Beijing lambastes US, Russia nukes
West should make 1st move to disarm
China said yesterday it will continue to “modernise” its nuclear arsenal and called on the United States and Russia to reduce their own stockpiles a day after global powers pledged to prevent such weapons from spreading.
In a rare joint statement setting aside rising West-East tensions, the US, China, Russia, Britain and France reaffirmed their goal of creating a world free of atomic weapons and avoiding a nuclear conflict.
The five nuclear powers also committed to full future disarmament from atomic weapons, which have only been used in conflict in the US bombings of Japan at the end of World War II.
But squaring that rhetoric with reality will not be easy at a time of spiralling tensions between those same global powers not seen since the Cold War.
Yesterday, China defended its nuclear weapons policy and said Russia and the US — by far the world’s largest nuclear powers — should make the first move on disarmament.
“The US and Russia still possess 90% of the nuclear warheads on Earth,” Fu Cong, director general of the department of arms control at the Chinese foreign ministry, said. “They must reduce their nuclear arsenal in an irreversible and legally binding manner.”
Mr Fu dismissed US claims that China was vastly increasing its nuclear capabilities. “China has always adopted the no first use policy and we maintain our nuclear capabilities at the minimal level required for our national security,” he said.
But he said Beijing would “continue to modernise its nuclear arsenal for reliability and safety issues”.
Mr Fu dismissed the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons near the Taiwan Strait. “Nuclear weapons are the ultimate deterrent, they are not for war or fighting,” he said.