China News Service, United Nations, October 8th. On the 8th local time, Sun Xiaobo, head of the Chinese delegation and director of the Arms Control Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who attended the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly’s Disarmament and International Security Committee (First Committee), spoke at the general debate and elaborated on China’s policies and propositions on strategic security and arms control issues.
Sun Xiaobo said that the current global security situation is facing complex and severe challenges. Hegemonism, power politics, and unilateralism have seriously impacted the post-World War II international order. The sovereignty, survival and development rights of small and medium-sized countries have been wantonly trampled on. The international system with the United Nations as its core and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter have been severely impacted.
Sun Xiaobo said that the United States is obsessed with absolute strategic advantage, continues to build a nuclear alliance through "nuclear sharing" and "extended deterrence", seriously undermines global and regional strategic stability, and pursues "double standards" on arms control and non-proliferation issues. This is the fundamental reason why the multilateral arms control process has stalled and the international non-proliferation system has been damaged. China firmly upholds the important role of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as the cornerstone of the international nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament system. The consensus on the ban on nuclear tests based on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty cannot be challenged. The authority and effectiveness of multilateral arms control mechanisms such as the Conference on Disarmament and the First Committee of the UN General Assembly can only be strengthened, not weakened.
Sun Xiaobo emphasized that this year marks the 81st anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and the 80th anniversary of the Tokyo Trial. At that time, Japan joined the United Nations on the premise of admitting the crime of militarism and accepting the entire content of the United Nations Charter. However, the current Japanese regime denies its history of aggression, whitewashes war crimes, pays homage to World War II war criminals, and at the same time continues to strengthen its military and expand its military capabilities, accelerating "remilitarization", which has become a prominent factor threatening regional peace and stability. Senior Japanese officials openly made arrogant remarks about "discussing the possession of nuclear weapons without taboos" and attempted to abandon the "three non-nuclear principles". This is a serious provocation and violation of the international nuclear non-proliferation system. Japan's proposal to delete the "enemy clause" in the United Nations Charter is the latest example of Japan's challenge to the post-war international order under the guise of "national normalization." Japan should deeply reflect on its history of aggression, completely dissociate itself from militarism, completely abandon its "remilitarization" attempts, and earnestly fulfill its international legal obligations of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Sun Xiaobo said that China advocates the development of military artificial intelligence that is peaceful, just, reliable and controllable. Recently, China issued the "Position Paper on Global Network Governance in the Digital Intelligence Era", advocating respect for digital sovereignty, emphasizing the right of all countries to independently choose the development path of digital intelligence technologies, including artificial intelligence, based on their national conditions, and opposing coercion of other countries to choose sides. This year, China will once again submit a draft resolution on "Promoting International Cooperation for Peaceful Uses in the Field of International Security" to the UN General Assembly, and looks forward to the active support and participation of all countries in the follow-up process of the resolution.
Sun Xiaobo pointed out that China will continue to be committed to practicing true multilateralism, firmly support the international arms control process with the United Nations at the core, and work with all peace-loving countries to make new contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind. (over)
