 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
Statement by Sha Zukang,
Chinese Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament
8 February 1996
(CD/PV. 724)
(Translated from Chinese)
In accordance with your ruling, I will not mention the question of expansion.
The distinguished Ambassador of the United States mentioned just now the issue of China's nuclear testing. As I said some time ago, had it been the non-nuclear-weapon States expressing their concern over China's nuclear testing, it would have been understandable. The case, however, is different for the United States. As is known to all, it is the United States that possesses today the largest and the most advanced nuclear arsenal in the world. It is the United States that will still possess the largest and the most advanced nuclear arsenal even after its implementation of the START II treaty in 2003. And it is the United States that for all the past decades has stuck to its policy of nuclear deterrence based on its first use of nuclear weapons against any other country. Owing to these reasons, the United States is not qualified to point its finger at China's extremely limited number of nuclear tests. Let us recap briefly the past history. The international community has long demanded the cessation of all nuclear tests since the 1950s. To achieve this objective, numerous resolutions have been adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Why then was the Conference on Disarmament able to establish the nuclear test ban Ad Hoc Committee and start negotiations on the CTBT only a little more than two years ago? How many nuclear tests were conducted by the United States during these decades? For all these years, whenever the United States chose to test, it would not allow test-ban negotiations. And now, when the negotiations have started, the United States is demanding that all other countries should follow the American approach and timetable and is making irresponsible comments on the extremely limited number of nuclear tests of others. What kind of logic is this!
I wish to reiterate here today that the completion of the CTBT as soon as possible and not later than 1996 has always been a goal which the Chinese delegation has striven for. Naturally, the Chinese delegation wishes to speed up the negotiations. At the same time, the Chinese delegation also wishes to conclude a good CTBT that is acceptable to all parties so as to achieve the early entry into force of the treaty. Proceeding from this position, the Chinese delegation has all along objected to the opportunist attitude of political expediency toward the CTBT negotiations and has opposed the imposition of certain domestic political factors of a few countries onto the multilateral treaty negotiations. I must state once again that China has conducted only a limited number of nuclear tests and has exercised utmost restraint on nuclear testing. China has never intended to continue nuclear testing indefinitely, nor will it do so. Once the CTBT enters into force, China will cease all nuclear testing.
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.
