UNITED NATIONS - China advocates a nuclear disarmament path in which one's own security and common security are indivisible and maintaining global strategic stability, a Chinese envoy has said on Monday.
China upholds the inseparability of security rights and security obligation and establishing a fair and just nuclear non-proliferation regime, upholds the inseparability of security and development and safeguarding the right of all States Parties to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, Sun Xiaobo, director-general of the Department of Arms Control of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told the general debate of the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 NPT Review Conference. NPT refers to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
The NPT is the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, said Sun, adding that its authority is undergoing unseen challenges.
China supports giving full play to the role of the NPT in serving peace and development in the new era, upholds the authority, effectiveness and universality of the NPT, he said.
Sun noted that the United States believes might makes right, pursues supremacy, wields the tariff and sanctions stick, exerts maximum pressure, pushes bullying, severely undermining fundamental international norms and the international system with the UN at its core and the international order based on international law.
Some nations stick to Cold-War mentality, form small groups and exclusive circles, seek absolute military superiority, spend a huge amount of money in upgrading the nuclear triad, strengthen nuclear alliances, forward deploy a global missile defense system and intermediate-range missiles near the borders of other nuclear-weapon states, he continued.
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The envoy said that these negative trends undermine mutual trust and cooperation among major countries, raise the risks of nuclear arms races and nuclear conflicts, deteriorate the international strategic security environment, and undermine global strategic balance and stability.
Warning against the rising unilateralism, bullying and power politics, Sun advocated that the international community should unite together and firmly resist against acts that run counter to the trend of history, prevent humanity from returning to the jungle world where the strong prey on the weak.
Sun called on the two countries with the largest nuclear arsenals to resume implementation of the New START Treaty and further significantly and substantially reduce their nuclear arsenals in a verifiable, irreversible and legally binding manner, so as to create the conditions for other nuclear-weapon states to join the nuclear disarmament process.
"We urge some certain countries to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in national and collective security policies, abolish nuclear sharing and extended deterrence arrangements, withdraw nuclear weapons deployed abroad back to its own territories, cease the development and deployment of the global missile defense system and cease the forward deployment of the land-based intermediate-range missiles near other countries," he said.
Sun said that China insists on the settlement of regional nuclear issues through political and diplomatic means and opposes wanton use of force or abuse of illegal unilateral sanctions, opposes undermining international laws and arrangements in the nuclear non-proliferation domain, and opposes putting geopolitical interest above nuclear non-proliferation.
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China supports the "Atoms for Global South Initiative" and oppose any misuse of unilateral export restrictions that impedes nuclear energy global collaborative efforts, the envoy said, adding that nuclear technology should serve as wealth for shared and win-win benefits rather than a tool to weave an iron curtain. Decoupling will ultimately lead to self-isolation, he said.
The peaceful nature of Chinese civilization has determined that China will always work as a builder of global peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of international order, he said.
Since the very first day China possessed nuclear weapons, it has pledged not to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, and unconditionally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones, Sun stressed.
"China is a responsible country that honors its commitment, and this policy has remained unchanged for over 60 years, withstanding the test of history," he said.
The NPT, signed in 1968 and effective since March 5, 1970, is the only treaty that contains legally binding commitments to pursuing nuclear disarmament. A total of 191 states have joined the treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon states, making the NPT the most widely adhered to multilateral disarmament agreement.
