Interview: China strives to ensure current NPT Review Conference a great success, senior diplomat says

The 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is "of historical significance" and the Chinese delegation is making great efforts to ensure the current UN gathering a great success, a senior Chinese diplomat told Xinhua here Tuesday.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong, the head of the Chinese delegation to the 2015 NPT Review Conference, made the statement in an interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the ongoing event, which opened here Monday and runs through May 22.

"The 2015 Review Conference is of historical significance, as this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and the 45th anniversary of the NPT entry into force, it is therefore serving as a link between past and future," Li said.

"Looking back, we can see that the treaty, as an important component of the post-world war international security system, has made great contribution to the endeavor of upholding international peace, security and stability," he said. "We fully affirm its significant role."

"Looking to the future, we can say that the international community is facing a very difficult task of upholding the international non-proliferation regime, working toward a nuclear- weapons-free world, and promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy."

It is China's hope that the current conference can fully review the implementation of the treaty, and do a good job in planning the direction and focus of the future work, he said, adding that the Chinese delegation is making great efforts to this end in order to make the gathering a great success.

"In the nuclear field, China has a very special status: ours is a nuclear-weapon state, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the largest developing country, as well as a nuclear energy power," he said. "This means that China has a higher mission in the nuclear affairs."

Over the years, China has always been taking part in the nuclear affairs with a responsible attitude, Li said.

For example, he said, "Only China, among nuclear-weapon states, has pledged unconditionally not to be the first to use nuclear weapons and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states."

Last Friday, the National People's Congress of China ratified " the Protocol to the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia," he noted, adding that this clearly shows China's long-standing efforts to support the non-proliferation regime, safeguard the security of its surrounding regions, and practice a good diplomatic policy in neighboring countries.

The protocol provides legally-binding assurances not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against parties to the parties in the nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia. Enacted in 2009, the treaty commits the signatories, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, to refrain from developing, acquiring or possessing nuclear weapons.

On the Iranian nuclear issue, Li said that China actively promotes a diplomatic solution to such an issue, and offers its vision and contributes positive energy to the efforts to make progress in relevant negotiations.

It is a long-cherished wish of the humankind as a whole to establish nuclear-weapon-free zones, he said. "China, which pursues peaceful development, fully understands the appeals of relevant countries, firmly supports the efforts toward a full ban of nuclear tests and complete destruction of nuclear weapons. We will continue to support these efforts."

At the same time, the issue of nuclear disarmament is closely associate with regional peace and stability, and also with security concerns of relevant countries, it can not be achieved overnight, he said, adding that this is an extensive consensus reached by the international community as a result of all kinds of discussions and consultations over the past decades.

It is also a consensus of the international community that the nuclear disarmament should be achieved in an orderly and gradual way, he said.

That is to say, the two countries with the most nuclear weapons in the world should take their special responsibility in preceding other states in promoting nuclear disarmament, he said, referring to the United States and Russia.

Conferences to review the operation of the treaty have been held at five-year intervals since the treaty went into effect in 1970. Each conference has sought to find agreement on a final declaration that would assess the implementation of the treaty's provisions and make recommendations on measures to further strengthen it.

The ongoing event at UN Headquarters in New York is the ninth Review Conference of the treaty and the fourth to be held since May 1995, when State parties adopted decisions on the indefinite extension of the treaty, on the strengthening of its review process and on principles and objects for nuclear non- proliferation and disarmament, together with a resolution on the Middle East.

The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

The NPT represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear- weapon States. Endite