International Meetings
2004 World Conference against A&H Bombs
Niu Qiang
Secretary General, Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament(CPAPD)
China
Dear President,
It is a great pleasure to come back to Hiroshima with my colleague
after a span of three years, to attend this well-known, important
International Conference, to meet old friends and make new ones,
to share thoughts and ideas for the same cause.
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to express our
heartfelt thanks to our Japanese host for the kind invitation and
hospitality. “Abolish Nuclear Weapons now, No more Hiroshimas No
more Nagasakis ” is the main theme of this years conference. More
importantly, it is the reflection of a common aspiration of the
people not only in Japan but also across the whole world. In order
to achieve the ultimate goal of abandoning nuclear weapons, I wish
to share with you some of my personal views on the current international
security situation in general and some recent developments of multilateral
arms control in particular.
First, the present international security situation.
Since we entered the new century, the international security situation
has been basically stable. Countries pay more and more attention
to exchanges and cooperation in security issues, and various regional
security mechanisms are playing more and more active role with unprecedented
vitality.
However we must also note that uncertain and unpredictable factors
are increasing in the field of international security, quite a number
of potential dangers and challenges are emerging and calling for
attention and solution.
Firstly, non-traditional security issues have become increasingly
acute. Terrorism, proliferation of WMDs, transnational crimes, epidemics
and other threats have taken on an upward spiral, posing grave challenges
to international peace and security.
Secondly, regional conflicts and other traditional security problems
remain a threat to peace, stability and development of many countries.
Due to historical legacy and obvious mis-governance, disputes and
conflicts in some regions over ethnic, religious, territorial and
other issues often flare up one after another. From the Arab-Israeli
conflicts to Kosovo war, from Afghanistan to the Great Lake region
in Africa, From Haiti to Darfur in Sudan-countless innocent civilians
were or are being thrown into the dire straits of wars and turmoil.
Thirdly, hunger, poverty and social injustice are major elements
affecting regional security and stability. As globalization speeds
up it pace, the gap between North and South is growing and many
developing countries are being marginalized alarmingly. These problems,
if not urgently and properly handled and resolved, will become permanent
threat to security of the world.
Presently, it is very important to embrace a new security concept
with mutual trust , mutual benefit, equality and cooperation at
the core. Before abandoning nuclear weapons countries should abandon
right now the outdated mindset of seeking security advantages with
military might. In a more and more globalized world, when interests
of all countries become intertwined, it is difficult for any country
to attain its security goals alone selfishly. We need the rule of
law in global affairs and more democracy in international relations.
We need greater multilateral cooperation and greater role of the
UN in safeguarding peace and security in the world. We also need
to adopt effective measures to help poor developing counties to
lift themselves out of poverty so as to eradicate the root causes
of conflicts and wars, and of the proliferation of WMDs in general.
Second, the current multilateral arms control situation.
In recent years, mainly due to the US's adoption of unilateralism
in its foreign policy the multilateral arms control process virtually
come to a halt or even has been reversed in fields. The current
situation is really disturbing and worrisome. The US cast heavy
doubts and even on multilateral treaties, changing its role of being
a protector of multilateral arms control treaties in the past, to
virtually a destroyer of the existing treaties. As is known to,
the multilateral treaties based on NPT, ABM and others constituted
a foundation for multilateral arms control. They have played an
active role in limiting the numbers of nuclear states and reducing
on a large-scale the nuclear weapons between the US and the USSR.
After the second world war, the successive US governments made much
efforts to initiate and facilitate the conclusion of a number of
multilateral treaties.
However in recent years the US government has gone to great length
to overstress its national security interests, adopting unilateralist
attitude towards multilateral treaties. As a result the system of
multilateral arms control treaties has suffered heavy blows. Just
list a few:
-the US refuses to ratify CTBT.
-unilaterally withdrew from the ABM.
-delayed to implement the obligation of destroying chemical weapons
stipulated in the CWC.
In the field of nuclear disarmament the US opposes concluding any
bilateral arms control treaty that allows mutual verification.
At present, in nuclear disarmament, there are some developments
calling for our great attention and resolute action, such as the
policy of preemption, lowering of the nuclear threshold, the development
of new types of nuclear weapons. All these are going against the
general tide of the world community, against the common aspiration
of the people, against the concerted efforts to prevent nuclear
proliferation.
Dear friends,
In the 20th century the two world wars brought unprecedented mass
destruction to mankind. The history of the cold war tells us that
a nuclear war can not be won and should not be fought. In the 20th
century, because of the invention of the nuclear weapons people
suffered from it. People long lived under the massive nuclear shadow
with great fear. In 21st century, it is high time totally eradicate
all nuclear weapons so as to realize a nuclear weapons free century.
This is not only in the interest of non- nuclear weapons states
but also in the interests of nuclear weapons states.
At present, in order to push forward the process of nuclear disarmament,
for the nuclear weapons states , it is necessary and important to
take the following major steps:
-to continue to unequivocally undertake the commitment of thorough
comprehensive destruction of nuclear weapons.
- to earnestly implement the already concluded treaties for the
reduction of nuclear weapons, following the principle of effective
verification.
-to undertake not to develop new types of nuclear weapons
- to ratify CTBT
- to clearly undertake non first use of nuclear weapons, not to
use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non nuclear weapons
states or nuclear free zones.
Dear friends,
Abandoning nuclear weapons is a pressing task but it is also long
term struggle, a long journey demanding great devotion and energy.
As a Chinese saying goes, a journey of one thousands kilometers
must start with the first single step. I think over the years we
have made more than a single step now. But there is still a long
way to go. Therefore today we assemble here again at this conference
to reaffirm our determination and devotion to continue our steps
forward until the goal of abandoning nuclear weapons and other WMDs
is realized.
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