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STATEMENT BY HEAD OF CHINESE DELEGATION MR. JIANG XINXIONG
AT THE 38TH IAEA GENERAL CONFERENCE
SEPTEMBER 1994
Mr. President,
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of China's joining the IAEA, I am honored to head the Chinese delegation once more to the Austria Center and meet with delegations from other countries and discuss some important issues concerning international cooperation of peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the prevention of nuclear proliferation. Please allow me to congratulate you on your assumption of the Presidency of the current Session. I am confident that your rich experience and outstanding diplomatic talent will surely guide the Session to a complete success. Meanwhile, I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Dr. Hans Blix, Director General, and to all delegations from other countries.
Since the last Session, we have witnessed some new development in the field of international cooperation of peaceful uses on nuclear energy and nuclear non-proliferation. The Agency on its part, has made useful efforts and achieved some positive progress. For the purpose of maintaining high level of safety for the nuclear faculties, the international community concluded Convention on Nuclear Safety, ushering international cooperation on nuclear safety and radiation protection onto a new and significant stage, With the support of member states, the Agency's financial situation has been improved. The increase of the total financial resources for technical cooperation in particular, brought us new hope. More attention are now paid by member states to the strengthening of the effectiveness and efficiency of the Agency's safeguards system. The Secretariat has also been working hard on the development and testing of Programme 93+2. The Agency has achieved fruitful results in helping the East-European and CIS countries to apply safeguards to their peaceful nuclear activities, improve the safety of their nuclear facilities and eliminate the radioactive contamination. Another encouraging sign is that many member states requested the Agency for support and assistance in studies related to energy and electricity planning and in nuclear power feasibility studies. To serve better the rational development priorities and requirements of member states, the model projects of technical assistance have been set up, winning our confidence that it would help the economic and social development of the developing countries.
Meanwhile, we must be fully aware of the fact that the existing imbalance between the promotional and regulatory activities in the work of the Agency still remains to be redressed, as numerous justified aspirations and demands of the broad developing countries still call for due consideration. The significance and role of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the application of nuclear technology has sometimes been intentionally belittled. As a result, quite a number of promotional activities still lack satisfying progress, some of them are at a standstill. In recent years, there have even been attempts to alter or weaken the promotional functions of the Agency in the name of preventing nuclear proliferation, thus endangering the future role and well-being of the Agency. We feel compelled to express our concern about this.
China consistently stands for the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons. She does not advocate, encourage nor engage in the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Nor would she ever assist any other country to develop nuclear weapons. To prevent nuclear proliferation, China is in favor of the strengthening of the universality of the NPT and the effectiveness of IAEA's safeguards. However, it should be pointed out that the prevention of nuclear proliferation and the promotion of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy are mutually complimentary. While they are closely inter-related, neither one can be replaced by the other. Nuclear non-proliferation should not be pursued in such a manner as to impair the legitimate rights and demands for peaceful uses of nuclear energy of member states, especially the developing countries. Nor should it be used to restrict or hinder the development of nuclear technology and nuclear energy industry of the developing countries. The one-sided and isolated advocation of nuclear non-proliferation not only runs counter to me purpose and principle of the Statute of the Agency, but also goes against the fundamental objectives of the NPT.
Proceeding from such an approach, China holds that the increase of technical assistance to me developing countries and the strengthening of the safeguards system of the Agency should be pursued in a balanced fashion and both should receive sufficient attention from the Agency's decision-making organs. In light of the imbalance between the promotional and regulatory activities, the Agency needs to devote more efforts to the promotion and support of the technical assistance and cooperation towards the developing countries. In this respect, China believes the following are important:
? The Agency should continue its efforts in formulating technical assistance and cooperation programmes suited to the specific national conditions of the developing countries so as to achieve the best results. In particular, the evolving concept of model projects is a valuable experiment in accommodating the national priorities and bringing more economic and social impact for the end-user.
? The international nuclear cooperation aimed at helping the developing
countries' revitalization of their national economy should be adapted to suite
the goal and strategy of these countries' development. In its technical
assistance and cooperation, the Agency should discard any unreasonable
restrictions on nuclear technology transfer, help the developing countries
master the know-how of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Only in this way can
favorable conditions be created for the establishment and development of a new
relationship in the international nuclear cooperation.
? The Agency should play a more positive role in supporting the cooperation among developing countries and make more contribution to improving the collective and individual self-reliance of developing countries.
? Given the current situation of the Agency, the identification of the most effective policies and measures for technical assistance remains a subject deserving serious study. We hope that the Secretariat will further strengthen its consultation and cooperation with the member states, especially the developing countries, in a joint exploration for practical technical assistance strategies and better ways of cooperation.
Mr.President,
The Chinese government pursues a consistent policy of promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy for the development of national economy. the implementation of reform and opening policies and the well-being of the Chinese people. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the construction and development of electrical infrastructure. China enjoys many favorable conditions for the development of nuclear energy, in that she is richly-endowed with uranium resources and that she has design and construction capabilities of her own. After forty year's development, the nuclear industry of China has acquired complete nuclear fuel cycle system. China's nuclear power industry is graduating from the commencement stage into the implementation stage of planning and construction, entering into a new phase of development. After its formal connection to the grid in December 1992, the self-designed-and-built 300MW reactor of the Qinshan power plant is now operating well. Following the successful operation of the first unit of Daya Bay nuclear power plant, the second unit also entered into commercial operation in May this year. The design and construction of the 2x600MW nuclear power plant for Phase II of the Qinshan project is gathering pace. In order to meet the demands for electric power supply.
China is to start the construction of phase II nuclear projects in Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces, as well as nuclear power stations in Liaoning and Shandong provinces. Before year 2000, the total capacity under construction will be expected to reach 8,000-10,OOOMW.
In the process of China's opening up to the outside world, her international cooperation in the field of nuclear power, including her cooperation with the Agency, constitutes an integral part of China's nuclear power development. In this respect, China will continue to attach to the principle of "seeking foreign cooperation while emphasizing self-reliance", properly introduce foreign investment, advanced equipment and technology, and strengthen her ability in research and construction, so as to accelerate the process of domesticaligation of nuclear equipments. We are glad to see that in recent years, the Agency has given priority assistance to the construction of China's Qinshan power plant, covering personnel training, project management, quality assurance, commissioning, operation management and emergency response, which plays an important role in the construction and safe operation of China's first self-designed-and-built nuclear power plant- We hope that the Agency will devote more efforts in carrying out its functions in assisting the development of nuclear energy, remove obstacles and continue to support the nuclear power industries of member states, especially the developing countries- We also hope that the Agency further expand the range of its assistance and service, improve its role in the transfer of nuclear technology, bringing the international cooperation in this field to a new stage. The development of China's nuclear power industry has always been guided by the principle of giving top priority to quality and safety. We believe that high-level nuclear safety is the foundation for the sustainable and smooth development of nuclear power. Conversely, the maintenance of a strong momentum of nuclear power development is helpful to raise the level of nuclear safety technology. The world's forty years' experience in nuclear power construction and operation is a testimony to this. We are happy to note that in recent years the Agency has done a lot of commendable work by adopting a series of measures to strengthen the international cooperation on nuclear safety, especially in the field of formulating nuclear safety standards and implementing operational safety review of nuclear power station. On the other hand, we still would like to point out that we need to attach sufficient emphasis to both sides of the question, i.e., nuclear safety and the development of nuclear power deserve equal attention, and the two should be promoted in conjunction. It is improper to lopsidedly exaggerate the role of nuclear safety management in the work of the Agency. At the same time, we should point out that the international community's assistance in the nuclear safety of the East-European and CIS countries should not be at the expense of the assistance to other member states.
Mr. President,
Ever since China became a member of the Agency ten years ago, with the common efforts of both sides, the Agency and China have conducted fruitful exchanges and cooperation in various forms in the field of nuclear power construction, nuclear safety, radiation protection, application of nuclear technology and basic physical and chemical research. In addition to the traditional cooperation programs of equipment provision, scientific visit and research contracts, new forms of cooperation have been started, such as joint research, technical advisory service and assessment and cooperated training courses. Thanks to the Agency's technical cooperation and assistance activities, we have established a set of training centers in China, thus improving the capability for long-term personnel-training, the technical conditions of some laboratories and expertise of the scientific and technical contingent China attaches importance to its cooperation and exchanges with the Agency. China always pays its regular budget and voluntary contributions on time and in full, welcomes scientific and technical personnel from developing countries to China for research and training. Chinese experts also provide technical service and give lectures in international training courses. Moreover, China has provided contribution in kind to RCA project. Here I would like to announce that in order to further support the Agency's technical assistance activities, the Chinese government has decided to make an extra donation of I million U.S. dollars to the Agency for the purpose of financing the model projects for other developing countries.
Over the past ten years, China has established an extensive relationship of cooperation with the Agency in nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear safeguards. China concluded the voluntary offer safeguards agreement with the Agency and acceded to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. In March 1992, China formally acceded to NPT, demonstrating our sincere determination in safeguarding peace and stability in the world. To facilitate the Agency in carrying out its safeguards activities, China has undertaken to report on all her import and export of nuclear materials and the export of nuclear equipment and non-nuclear materials. In export control, China basically adopts the relevant international practice and provisions, and exercises strict control on nuclear export. China will continue to make unremitting efforts for the early realization of the fundamental objectives enshrined in the NPT, guided by an independent foreign policy of peace.
Mr. President,
Since there are many important items on the agenda of the current Session, the tasks in front of us are both important and formidable. Nevertheless, we are confident that as long as all the delegations here fully demonstrate their sincerity for cooperation, the Conference should, and will, achieve substantive results-After more than two years of negotiation, the Convention on Nuclear Safety was finally concluded, laying an international legal foundation for the promotion and assurances of high-level nuclear safety world-wide. Despite the fact that there still exists some imbalance in certain provisions, the purposes and goals set up by the Convention has won wide support and approval from member states. We hope that these purposes and goals can be strictly observed and fully implemented so as to assure the nuclear safety of all countries. Now I am honored to inform the Conference that the Chinese government will sign this Convention after the completion of necessary legal procedures- I wish also to state that after she becomes a State Party to the Convention, China will strictly abide by the obligations provided in the Convention and take an active part in the internationally coordinated actions for the strengthening of nuclear safety.
For the purpose of maintaining world peace and strengthening the security of all countries, China supports the Agency's endeavor to adopt appropriate measures to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the safeguards system which should be just, objective, reasonable, transparent and practicable. The system should be able to deter and detect any possible non-compliance activities, and redress the situation once non-compliance has been judged upon. China always holds that the basic aim for the reexamination of the implementation of the safeguards activities is to improve its effectiveness through adopting measures conducive to the building of confidence. Therefore, the relevant technical measures should be carried out strictly in conformity with the Statute and other relevant international legal instruments on the basis of respecting state sovereignty, and ensuring the equal status, rights and obligations of all countries In view of the complex nature of international relations and the sensitivity of detecting the undeclared unclear activities. China maintains that we should vigilantly guard against the possibility of the abuse of environment monitoring.
The demand of the developing countries for practical application of food irradiation and economical production of potable water is both justifiable and reasonable. China supports the Agency's decision to list activities in this field among the priority projects and will actively participate in the technical exchange and industrial cooperation within the scope of the Agency. We hope that the Agency will make serious and practical arrangements for these projects so as to accelerate the promotional activities- China is willing to contribute to the success of the above-mentioned projects.
The recent increase in illicit nuclear material trafficking in Europe has caused concern to the international community. As a party to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, China has consistently attached great importance to the control and protection of nuclear material and opposes any form of illicit trafficking activities in nuclear material. We hope that the state governments and international community will make joint efforts for taking necessary and practical measures to prevent illicit trafficking in nuclear material. China supports the Agency to play its part of role in addressing the problems, in conformity with the statute and other relevant international legal instruments.
Mr. President
The world is faced with new challenges, opportunities and hope. Peace and development are the common aspiration and objective of all the people in the world. As the inter-govemmental organization for the promotion of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the IAEA is entrusted with an arduous task, bearing high expectations from the member states. As a developing member states, it is only natural for China to hope that the Agency can adjust itself to the new international situation, handling the important issues related to the international cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and nuclear non-proliferation in a positive, balanced, fair and just manner. It is the fundamental task of the Agency to comprehensively implement the principles and purposes of the Statute of the Agency. China is willing, together with other member states, to carry on its efforts to help the Agency to fulfill this noble task.
Thank you, Mr. President.
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
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