US Unilateralism May Lead to New Arms Race: Expert

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 07, 2003

US Unilateralism May Lead to New Arms Race: Expert

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US unilateralism may lead to the collapse of the world strategic balance and a new arms race, Fei Yongyi, an expert with the Chinese People's Association for Peace and Disarmament told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Sunday.

The new US security strategy seeking absolute military advantage would surely alter the balance among military powers, he said, adding new arms races therefore were inevitable.

Fei said non-proliferation of weapons of massive destruction should be guaranteed mainly by political and diplomatic means.

The Iraq issue should be resolved within the framework of the United Nations through fair and professional arms inspections by the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said.

The role and authority of the United Nations and its Security Council should be upheld, UN Security Council Resolution 1441 should be earnestly implemented, he said.

The international community should strive for a fair, reasonable and effective international non-proliferation mechanismin which all countries participated on the basis of democratic decision-making, he said.

The smooth progress in international arms control rested on the willingness of military powers, he said, noting US unilateral policy showed no willingness to participate in multilateral arms control, thus losing its moral basis for persuading other countries to participate.

Confidence and enthusiasm of international community members for global arms control were ruined by such irresponsibility of a major power on arms control treaties, he said.

The US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty meant the international arms control system had lost an important part and faced uncertainty, he said.

Proliferation of weapons of massive destruction and delivery means ruined regional and world peace and stability, intensified tension and increased the risk of war, he said.

Non-proliferation, and prohibiting, reducing and ultimately thoroughly destroying weapons of mass destruction were the common aims of the international community, he said.

Since more countries were armed with or had the capability to produce such weapons, nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation became the focus of many countries from the 1950s to the 1980s, hesaid.

Over the past 50 years, the international community had taken a series of measures in non-proliferation, and made certain progress in this regard. However, US unilateralism in recent years set up new obstacles for non-proliferation, and increased the danger of a global arms race, he said. (Xinhua News)

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