UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 -- The United Nations General Assembly held a high-level plenary meeting on September 26 to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of NuclearWeapons. Ambassador Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said at the meeting that countries with the largest nuclear arsenals should earnestly fulfill their special responsibilities and further significantly and substantially reduce their nuclear arsenals.
Amb. Geng said that the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons and the eventual establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free world serve the common interests of mankind and arethe shared aspiration of all countries.For some time, certain countries have been obsessed with “strategic competition among major countries”, constantly strengthening military alliances, provoking confrontation between parties, advancing forward deployment of strategic forces, and insisting on nuclear submarine cooperation. These actions aggravate the risk of the nuclear arms race and nuclear proliferation, hinder international nuclear disarmament efforts, and run counter to the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons and building a world free of nuclear weapons. "They should be terminated immediately," he added.
Mankind is an indivisible security community, and no country should seek its own security at the expense of others, Geng said.China calls on the international community to actively respond to the Global Security Initiative and jointly safeguard world peace and serenity, and asks all nuclear weapon countries to echo China's consistent policy of non-first-use of nuclear weapons. Countries with the largest nuclear arsenals should earnestly fulfill special responsibilities and further significantly and substantially reduce their nuclear arsenals to create conditions for the eventual realization of comprehensive and complete nuclear disarmament.
Amb. Geng also stressed that China steadfastly follows the path of peaceful development, always sticks to the nuclear strategy centered on self-defense, and would never use nuclear weapons first at any time, under any circumstances. It is committed to maintaining its nuclear force at the minimum level required for national security and does not compare its input, quantity, or scale with other countries, or engage in a nuclear arms race with any other country. Besides, China will continue to practice true multilateralism, work with the international community in order to advance nuclear disarmament, and make unremitting efforts to build a world free of nuclear weapons.
