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Jiang-Putin Joint Antimissile
Statement
18 July 2000
The PRC President and the Russian Federation President make the following statement:
The development of the international situation fully proves that the joint statement "On Sino-Russian Relations at the Turn of the Century" issued during a top-level meeting between China and Russia on 23 November 1998, the "Sino-Russian News Communiqué on Consultations Over the 'ABM Treaty'" issued on 14 April 1999, as well as the conclusion and evaluation made by the "Sino-Russian Joint Statement" on the ABM question issued during a top-level meeting between the two countries on 10 December 1999 are all correct.
The 1972 "Treaty on Restricting the Antiballistic Missile System" (hereafter called the "ABM Treaty" for short) still remains the cornerstone of global strategic stability and international security and is the basis of key international agreements on reducing and restricting offensive strategic weapons and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Safeguarding and strictly observing the "ABM Treaty" is of vital importance.
In view of this, the US plan to build a national missile defense [NMD] system, which is prohibited by the "ABM Treaty," has made people deeply worried. China and Russia maintain that the essence of this plan is seeking unilateral military and security advantages. The implementation of this plan will have the most serious negative consequences not only on the national security of Russia, China, and other countries, but also on the security and international strategic stability of the United States itself. Therefore China and Russia firmly oppose this plan.
Any damage to the "ABM Treaty" could trigger a new round of arms race, bringing about a turn for the worse in the positive trend that has appeared in world politics since the end of the Cold War. This, unquestionably, does not correspond with the fundamental interests of any country in the world. The country that proposed an amendment to this basic treaty in disarmament will be held totally responsible for undermining international stability and security and for the all the consequences arising therefrom.
An analysis of the current international reality suggests that the demand of a certain country to amend the "ABM Treaty" under the pretext of a so-called missile threat does not hold water at all. The proposal for a so-called "amendment" to the "ABM Treaty" is aimed at covering up the relevant country's attempt to violate the provisions of treaty. The alteration of the "ABM Treaty's" contents will not only undermine the treaty, but also lead to a chain of negative consequences. It is of great and practical significance in the present strategic situation to preserve the completeness and effectiveness of the "ABM Treaty."
The correct way to adapt oneself to the new challenges in international security, safeguard world peace, and protect the legitimate security interests of different countries is not to undermine the "ABM Treaty" but to push forward the establishment of a new, just, and rational international political order, abandon power politics and the arbitrary use of force in international affairs, and further strengthen regional and international security. In the meantime, it is important for Russia and the United States to continue the process of reducing offensive strategic weapons on the basis of strictly observing the "ABM Treaty," carry out this process in a more in-depth manner, and encourage other nuclear countries at an appropriate time in the future to join this process. Political, legal, and diplomatic means must be employed to strengthen international efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their carriers, probe the possibility of gradually forming a global monitoring system to prevent the proliferation of missiles and their technology, and conduct extensive and nondiscriminative dialogue and cooperation in this field.
Nonstrategic missile defense that is not prohibited by the "ABM Treaty," and international cooperation in this field, should not harm the security interests of other countries, should not lead to the establishment or strengthening of close-type military or political blocs, and should not undermine global or regional stability and security. Based on this position, China and Russia are seriously worried about, and firmly oppose, a certain country's plan to deploy in the Asia-Pacific region a nonstrategic missile defense system that might have the aforesaid negative impacts. Incorporating Taiwan into a foreign country's missile defense system in whatever form is unacceptable and will seriously undermine regional stability.
The resolution to maintain and observe the "ABM Treaty" adopted by the 54th UN General Assembly is of great significance. China and Russia call on the international community to continue to pay serious attention to the relevant country's energetic development of a missile defense system that undermines global strategic balance and stability, and to take necessary measures to prevent the development of this dangerous situation.
China and Russia express satisfaction about their cooperation in maintaining global strategic balance and stability so far. Based on the strategic partnership characterized by equality and trust, China and Russia will continue their close cooperation in the aforesaid issues and strengthen their cooperation in other related fields under the framework of each undertaking its international responsibilities, to safeguard their own as well as regional and global security.
Jiang Zemin (signature)
President of the People's Republic of China
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (signature)
President of Russian Federation
Beijing, 18 July 2000
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.
