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Treaty Text
Opened for
Signature: December 15, 1995
Entered into Force: March 28, 1997
Number of
States Parties: all 10 ASEAN member countries (Brunei Darussalam,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam)
The NWFZ in Southeast Asia originated from
the Declaration on the Zone
of Peace, Freedom, and Neutrality (ZOPFAN)
issued in November 1971 by the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN)
in
the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. The establishment of a NWFZ in Southeast Asia was the major
goal that the ZOPFAN aimed to achieve. However, given the unstable geopolitical
situation in the region at the time, little progress was made. It took more than 10 years before a formal proposal for the establishment
of a NWFZ in Southeast Asia was submitted. Although Indonesia formally raised
the Southeast Asia NWFZ idea again in 1984, the establishment of the zone only gained
momentum when the United States withdrew its military forces (including nuclear
weapons) from the Philippines in 1992. After more than 10 years of negotiation,
the Treaty of Bangkok was opened for signature at the Fifth ASEAN Summit on
December 16, 1995, and the leaders of all 10 ASEAN member states signed the
treaty. The treaty entered into force on March 27, 1997, after Cambodia
became the eighth country to ratify the treaty.
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ASEAN Heads of Governments
Meeting in Bangkok, in December 1995, where all 10 Southeast Asian countries
signed the Treaty on the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone
(SEANWFZ). Source: ASEAN |
The Treaty of Bangkok prohibits developing, testing,
manufacturing or otherwise acquiring, possessing, or having control over nuclear
weapons both inside and outside the zone.
Stationing of nuclear weapons in the
zone is also prohibited. One of the unique points of the Bangkok Treaty is that
it requires early notification of nuclear accidents.
The treaty's
one protocol obligates all nuclear weapons states to respect the treaty, not to
contribute to any act that would constitute its violation, and not to use or
threaten to use nuclear weapons against any country in the NWFZ. The protocol
has two elements that are different from other NWFZs: 1) the zone of application
includes the continental shelves and the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) as well
as the member's territories, which the NWS are to respect as part of the
zone; and 2) the treaty's protocol
provision on negative security assurances also implies the non-use of nuclear
weapons against any contracting state or protocol party within the zone
including non-member states and any target within a state's EEZ. In addition, Article 14 of the treaty states that if signatories to the
protocol breach the provisions, the Commission of the NWFZ may take appropriate
measures.
Because
of concerns over the inclusion of continental shelves and exclusive economic
zones (EEZ) in the Southeast Asia NWFZ, none of the nuclear weapon states has
signed the protocol to the Treaty of Bangkok. The NWS, in particular the United
States, argue that provisions of the treaty are inconsistent with the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea, which provides for freedom of passage through
the straits covered by the zone. In addition, the NWS contend that the
continental shelves and EEZ are not clearly defined in the South China Sea,
creating ambiguity over the scope of the treaty and protocol obligations. The
United States is also concerned about the inclusion of the legally binding
negative security assurances of protocol countries, and language concerning the
provisions that do not allow port calls by ships carrying nuclear weapons. No
agreement has so far been possible on ways to amend the treaty and protocol to
address the NWS concerns, but consultations on this issue continue between the
NWS and ASEAN.
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Image of Spratly Islands
Source: Geographix
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China is the only NWS that has indicated support for the
treaty and its protocol, but China has concerns due to a number of territorial issues,
especially the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. (The Spratly Islands are thought to be sitting on significant oil resources,
which has led various countries in the region, including China and a number
of ASEAN countries, to lay claim to them.) Despite these continuing
controversies, significant progress towards agreement on the treaty and protocol between China and the
ASEAN states was made in 1999, when the Chinese Foreign Minister announced that
China would sign the relevant protocol to the Southeast Asia NWFZ. China and the
ASEAN countries reportedly reached an agreement on the treaty and its
protocol, but China had not signed the protocol as of April 2005.
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