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China Supports CTBT Early Entry into Force
China firmly supports the purposes and objectives of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and its early entry into force and is ready to make its due contribution to it, a high-ranking FM official said Tuesday in Beijing.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the Regional Workshop for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) International Cooperation and National Implementation/Ratification Procedures, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya said that the Chinese government has submitted the treaty to the National People's Congress (NPC) for review and approval.
"I believe that the NPC will complete its early review and ratification in accordance with the legal procedure," he said.
Calling the conclusion of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) "a milestone achievement" in international disarmament after the end of the Cold War, and "an important step" of mankind toward a nuclear-free world and "tremendous facilitation" of global nuclear disarmament and prevention of nuclear proliferation, he said that to bring the CTBT into full play, it is indispensable to facilitate the treaty's early entry into force under the precondition that the treaty's necessary universality be guaranteed.
This is a common task facing all countries that support the treaty, Wang said.
"We are pleased to see that since its opening for signature in 1996, the treaty has been signed by 155 countries, 60 of which have ratified the treaty," he said.
The Chinese government believes that to ensure continuous progress in the process of international disarmament, efforts should be made, first and foremost, to improve the global security environment and enhance international cooperation, which will provide necessary conditions for and driving force to this process, Wang said.
Meanwhile, it is of great immediate significance to safeguarding the international arms control regime set up on the basis of international laws, he said.
"The Chinese government stands ready to join the international community to work to safeguard the integrity and authority of international arms control treaty," he said.
The three-day workshop is sponsored by the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO and the Chinese government for the first time.
It is attended by 45 representatives from 22 countries from southeast Asia, Far East and south Pacific.
China is the second signatory to the CTBT.
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