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Explanation by The Government of The People's
Republic of China
on Its Observance of the Convention of Prohibition of the
Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological
(Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction
(BWC/CONF.III/3/Add.1)
At the request of the Preparatory Committee for the Third Review Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, the Government of the People's Republic of China hereby gives an account of its observance of the Convention as follows:
1. Having been caused great harm by biological weapons, China has all along stood for the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of biological weapons, and has never developed, produced, stockpiled or otherwise acquired or retained biological agents, toxins, or weapons equipment or means of delivery for them, prohibited under the Convention. China is opposed to the proliferation of biological weapons and their related technologies, and has never in any way assisted, encouraged, or induced any State, group of States or international organizations to engage in any of the aforementioned activities prohibited by the Convention.
2. China strictly abides by all the provisions of the Convention and carries out in a serious and comprehensive manner all its obligations arising therefrom. In accordance with the Final Declaration of the Second Review Conference of the Parties to the Convention, China has also, since 1988, submitted to the United Nations reports containing Convention-related information dating from 1984, the year in which China acceded to the Convention.
3. China attaches importance to and actively engages in the peaceful uses of biotechnology. In recent years, a large contingent of scientists have been channeled into biotechnology research, one of the areas to which the country gives top priority. Impressive headway has been made both in the basic research as well as in the development and actual application of the results of the research. These results, some attaining to international standards or in the lead domestically, have been put to extensive use in agricultural, industrial, medical and pharmaceutical fields, yielding remarkable social and economic benefits.
4. Actively supporting international exchanges and cooperation in the peaceful uses of biotechnology, China encourages publication of the results of biological and biotechnology research and helps Chinese biologists with their contacts, exchanges and joint research with their foreign counterparts.
5. Exchanges and cooperation between China and the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other international organizations and countries in the fields of medicine and public health have borne fruit and are still under way.
6. China has always advocated the early conclusion of a convention on the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of chemical weapons, and to this end has actively participated in the negotiations on such a convention at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
This
material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the
opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or
its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by
MIIS.
