Call for ‘fairness’ amid pressure from G7

Foreign Minister Qin Gang has called on the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog to “resist” pressure from countries seeking to “undermine international cooperation”, just days after Group of Seven leaders said Beijing’s atomic arsenal was a threat to global and regional stability.

Speaking with Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Beijing, Qin reiterated that China’s nuclear strategy was based on the principles of self-defence and non-proliferation.

“China firmly supports the peaceful use of nuclear energy, resolutely strengthens domestic nuclear security and supports international cooperation on nuclear security,” Qin said.

“China hopes that the IAEA will perform its duties in an objective, fair and professional manner, and resolutely resist the practice of certain countries to generalise the concept of national security, and disrupt or undermine the normal order of international cooperation.”

Qin also called on the IAEA to “properly handle” plans by Aukus – the security alliance involving Australia, Britain and the United States – to deploy nuclearpowered submarines, as well as Japan’s plan to release treated nuclear waste water into the sea.

According to a readout by the foreign ministry, Grossi said the IAEA “attaches great importance” to its relationship with China and appreciated the country’s “peaceful use” of nuclear energy.

The scheduled meeting came two days after the conclusion of the G7 summit in Japan, during which a joint communique was released signalling China on a raft of issues including alleged economic coercion and human rights abuses. On the first day of the summit, the G7 leaders accused China of threatening global stability by expanding its nuclear arsenal “without transparency nor meaningful dialogue”.

Beijing has slammed the summit as “anti-China” and specifically called out Japan for acting as an “accomplice” to Washington.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China has the third largest nuclear arsenal – with 350 warheads in 2022, up from 200 a decade ago – but the number is well below the 5,428 and 5,977 held by the US and Russia, respectively.

China acceded to the UN’s Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1992, and has long maintained a “no-first-use” policy for its arsenal.

The meeting with Qin is part of a week-long visit to China by Grossi, a first for the director, whose itinerary includes meetings with high-level officials and visits to nuclear facilities across the country.

On Monday, Grossi and other IAEA officials signed a raft of agreements with China’s Atomic Energy Authority on issues such as nuclear data and waste management, and designated China’s Nuclear and Radiation Safety Centre as a new collaboration centre.

“China is one of the IAEA’s most important partners and a global leader in nuclear energy,” Grossi said.