On 18 September, Ambassador TANG Guoqiang, Head of the Chinese Delegation, made a statement at the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

The international system of arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation, as an integral part of the global security regime, has played an important role in maintaining peace and stability of the world.  Since its conclusion in the 1990's, the CTBT has served as a pillar of the international system of arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation, and along with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other important treaties on the international arms control, has functioned an important part in preventing both horizontal and vertical proliferation of the nuclear weapons as well as is promoting the international nuclear disarmament process.

We are pleased to see that 11 years after its open for signature, the CTBT has enjoyed expanding influence and gained broad awareness and support from the international community. The purposes and goals set up by the Treaty has already become primary international norms and been accepted and observed by the absolute majority of the countries. There are 177 countries that have signed the Treaty, among which 140 countries have ratified it. This fully demonstrates the common understanding and determination of the international community to support the comprehensive nuclear test ban, realize the complete and thorough nuclear disarmament and maintain the international peace and security.

At the same time, we also notice that the current process of international arms control and disarmament and the nuclear nonproliferation regime are faced with severe challenges. The development of new type nuclear weapons and the accelerated development and deployment of the missile defense systems have brought negative effects on the global strategic balance and stability. The lasting unresolved regional nuclear issues, the potential contradiction between the peaceful use of nuclear energy and nuclear nonproliferation, and the practices such as double standards have introduced new complexity in the international nonproliferation efforts.

Under such circumstances, facilitating the early entry into force of the CTBT bears practical significance on maintaining and strengthening the international system of arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation and on safeguarding international peace and security. The international community should strengthen solidarity and cooperation so as to expand the common understanding on the nuclear test ban and speed up the process of ratification. To this end, the following efforts should be made by the international community.

Firstly, an international environment of peace, stability and universal security should be established. A new security concept based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation should be built up. The mutual trust should be enhanced through dialogues, and the common security be promoted by cooperation. By doing so, can confrontation and mistrust among countries be removed, and the early entry into force of the Treaty be facilitated.

Secondly, the current regime and principles of the international arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation should be maintained and enhanced. Experiences have proved that as long as all the countries faithfully observe and implement relevant international commitments and maintain the consistency of arms control and nonproliferation polices, instead of practicing excessive exception and double standards based on the one-time or one-case need, could the authority and effectiveness of the regime and principles of the international arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation be factually protected.

Thirdly, the purpose and principles of the Treaty should be strictly maintained and the process of nuclear disarmament should be promoted. The nuclear weapon states should scrupulously abide by the commitment of a moratorium on nuclear testing, not develop new typed nuclear weapons, lower the status of nuclear weapons in the national security strategy, and unconditionally undertake not to be the first to use nuclear weapons and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states. It should be pointed out that under current circumstances, the pursuit for acquiring nuclear weapons is not helpful to enhancing security of the countries concerned and could trigger international and regional tension and hence harmful to the international security and stability.

Fourthly, the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization should be actively supported and the construction of the monitoring and verification regime for implementing the Treaty should be prompted. A comprehensive monitoring and verification regime for implementing the Treaty is an important feature of the Treaty, while serving as a model for the verification regime of treaties on international arms control. The early completion of the Treaty verification regime with the International Monitoring System as its main part would help providing necessary technical and material guarantee for the entry into force of the Treaty. All State Signatories should faithfully implement the obligations of the Treaty, pay their assessed contribution on time and in full, and actively support the work of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization.

China firmly supports the purpose and goal of the Treaty and observes the commitment of the moratorium on nuclear testing. China has all along supported the international efforts aimed at promoting the entry into force of the Treaty and participated in every Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the CTBT. In recent years, China has positively supported the relevant Resolution in the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly and co-sponsored it. The Chinese Government has by far submitted the Treaty to the National People's Congress for its review. As the supreme legislative institution, the National People's Congress would review the Treaty in a comprehensive and detailed way in accordance with the procedures of the Law.

The Chinese Government has attached great importance to the preparatory work for the Treaty implementation. It has constructively and actively participated in all of the works of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization and earnestly implemented the obligations of the Treaty. China has specially established an agency for preparatory affairs on CTBT implementation. The agency is in charge of the preparation on CTBT implementation in China including the construction, operation and management of the stations. It is now working hard to build and improve 11 International Monitoring Stations and 1 Radionuclide Laboratory on Chinese territory as well as the National Data Center with the cooperation of the Provisional Technical Secretariat. All these works are being carried out smoothly.      

The Chinese Government will continue its efforts to strengthen the cooperation with the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization and the international community on facilitating the early entry into force of the Treaty.  

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