By Wu Minwen
On May 15, at the 11th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Chinese representative called on relevant nuclear-weapon states to withdraw all nuclear weapons deployed abroad back to their own territories and avoid new deployments on foreign territories. At the same time, China expressed grave concern over the "nuclear sharing" and "extended deterrence" practices of relevant countries. China's appeals and concerns hit the nail on the head, as the global nuclear arms control system is currently facing severe challenges.
The NPT is an important cornerstone of the global nuclear arms control system. It was signed by 59 countries, including the UK, the US, and the Soviet Union on July 1, 1968. Its purpose is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, promote nuclear disarmament, and facilitate international cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The treaty entered into force in March 1970. Since then, the NPT Review Conference has been held every five years. The 11th NPT Review Conference was held this year from April 27 to May 22, with 191 States parties participating.
In his address to the conference, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is currently experiencing a "collective amnesia" regarding the dangers of nuclear weapons, with rising nuclear threats and the global nuclear arms control system on the verge of collapse.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is another foundational treaty on nuclear arms control. It aims to prohibit all nuclear explosions by any State Party anywhere. It was adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 1996 and opened for signature to all countries on September 24, 1996. Russia ratified the treaty in 2000, but the US has never ratified it. On November 2, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law revoking Russia's ratification of the CTBT. The refusal of the US to join and ratify the treaty, combined with Russia's revocation of its ratification, poses a major challenge to the treaty's effectiveness and authority.
The US and Russia are the world's two largest nuclear powers, possessing far more nuclear weapons in both quantity and quality than any other nuclear-weapons state. It was based on this fact that the US and Russia signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) in 2010. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US led a group of European and NATO allies to support Ukraine against Russia, leading Russia to decide to suspend its implementation of the treaty. In June 2023, the two sides stopped exchanging relevant data. At this point, the New START Treaty between the US and Russia became effectively defunct.
Furthermore, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the Treaty on Open Skies, which were also related to nuclear arms control between the US and Russia, have expired. This leaves only the NPT still in force within the global nuclear arms control system. It is evident that Guterres' statement at this NPT Review Conference that "arms control is dying" is by no means an alarmist statement.
As the world's two largest nuclear powers, both the US and Russia have deployed nuclear weapons in countries outside their own territories. The US has deployed nuclear weapons in six countries, namely the UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye, under the so-called "nuclear sharing" mechanism. In March 2023, Putin stated that Russia and Belarus had reached an agreement on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. On June 16 of that year, the first batch of Russian tactical nuclear weapons was successfully deployed in Belarus.
Against the backdrop of reduced US security commitments to Europe, the European nuclear powers, the UK and France, are strengthening their nuclear forces. They are attempting to provide nuclear umbrellas to other European countries to supplement the weakened US security guarantees, while simultaneously enhancing their own voice and influence in Europe.
In recent years, Japan has actively catered to the so-called "nuclear sharing" and "extended deterrence." Oue Sadamasa, a special advisor to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in charge of nuclear arms control and non-proliferation affairs, even publicly stated that "Japan should possess nuclear weapons." This not only seriously challenges the authority of the NPT, but also directly violates Japan's pacifist Constitution and its Three Non-Nuclear Principles. In this regard, the international community must strengthen supervision and verification, take seriously the grave imbalance between the production capacity and consumption of sensitive nuclear materials, and resolutely curb the nuclear ambitions of relevant countries.
Currently, the hot wars involving the US, Israel, and Iran in the Middle East, as well as the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Europe, have not ceased. Nuclear threats are rising, the global nuclear arms control system is on the verge of collapse, and the entire world is shrouded in a thicker cloud of nuclear war than ever before. Therefore, upholding the NPT and maintaining and strengthening the global nuclear arms control system is the only correct path forward.
Editor's note: Originally published on zqb.cyol.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.