This is the second part of this series. You can find the first part here

Position of China

The People’s Republic of China acknowledges that outer space has become an integral part of man's life and contributes to the well-being and social progress of all countries. Thanks to its unremitting efforts over the years, the international community has adopted a series of international legal instruments, contributing to the peaceful exploration and use of outer space. China would like to emphasise that a peaceful and tranquil outer space free from weaponisation and arms race serves the common interests of all countries. It is therefore necessary for the international community to formulate new legal instruments to strengthen the current legal regime on outer space. The U.N. General Assembly has, for over twenty years, adopted resolutions with overwhelming majority, reiterating that the CD has the primary role in the negotiation of a multilateral agreement on the prevention of an arms race in outer space.

In light of this opinion, China has, consistently, supported and voiced the cause of disarmament of outer space throughout the past half century in her various deliberations with the United Nations Organisation.

People’s Republic of China became a member of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in 1981 and acceded to the Outer Space Treaty (OST) in December 1983. Beginning in 1984, she has consistently proposed draft resolutions to the UN General Assembly on the prevention of an arms race in outer space, insisting that space is to be used strictly for peaceful purposes, and criticized the United States and the former Soviet Union for failing to take the lead in seeking prohibitions on all military uses of outer space.

China is a member of the Conference of Disarmament, and officially joined in November 1980. She appointed an Ambassador for Disarmament in 1983. She does not belong to any of the groupings within the CD (i.e. Western Group, Eastern European Group, and Group of 21), but acts alone. In her November 1995 white paper on arms control and disarmament, China stated her support for multilateral arms control negotiations such as those carried out in the CD, saying that it "stresses and supports the conclusion of arms control and disarmament agreements and treaties through negotiation. Beginning in 1980, she has formally joined in the work of the Geneva Conference on Disarmament and has actively promoted negotiations on a wide variety of disarmament issues and the conclusion of relevant conventions."

In 1985, the Committee on PAROS was set up and lasted till 1994. In 1994, China and Russia reached a ‘no-first use agreement’ that neither country will be the first to use nuclear weapons on the other.

In both the 1998 and 2000 white papers on national defence, China called for the creation of a multilateral mechanism to prevent an arms race in outer space and promote the pursuit of peace in this realm. China stood by the view that the then officiating international legal instruments, such as the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, the Treaty on the Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and the Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and other Celestial Bodies, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty as inadequate to prevent an arms race in outer space.  Consequently, China has proposed on numerous occasions the re-establishment of an Ad Hoc committee on the Prevention of An Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) at United Nations' Conference on Disarmament (CD).  China wants the Ad Hoc Committee to be "an open-ended and all-embracing mechanism within which all sides can freely express their own views." 

In order to resolve the deadlock that followed the above proposal, owing primarily to the strong opposition on behalf of the United States of America, China agreed to a compromise by softening her demands as regards the Ad Hoc committee, showing willingness to settle for less formal discussion, although with the continued understanding that the talks would be aimed at creating a binding agreement.  The US, however, found this compromise unacceptable since the assumption remained that the final product of these discussions would be in the form of a formal agreement. As a result, China continued to stand her ground and directed her efforts towards the formalisation of a multilateral international committee aimed to prevent arms race in the outer space.

In May 2002, the delegations of China and Russian Federation jointly presented a working paper to the CD entitled Possible Elements for a Future International Legal Agreement on the Prevention of the Deployment of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects, in the hope "that all other delegations will carefully study, support and co-sponsor this paper."  The Working Paper was officially presented to the CD on 27 June 2002, with additional co-sponsorship of Belarus, Indonesia, Syria, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.  The Working Paper laid out "the general framework and concrete contents of the future legal instrument on outer space." Both delegations again called for the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee on PAROS at the CD, "so as to start substantive work on the negotiation of such a legal instrument." 

China attaches great importance to the role played by The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in preventing the proliferation of unmanned delivery systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction. After two rounds of talks in February and June 2004, China officially applied for its MTCR membership in September 2004. In July 2007 and July 2009, China and the MTCR Chair held another two rounds of dialogues in Beijing, and the two sides exchanged views on issues of missile and missile-related export control and the relations between China and the MTCR. The dialogues enhanced mutual understanding between China and the MTCR.

On 12 February 2008, the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation jointly submitted to the Conference on Disarmament (CD) the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT) in its Plenary Session. The two countries proposed to conclude a new international legal instrument through negotiation to prevent the weaponisation of and an arms race in outer space, and to preserve a peaceful and tranquil outer space.

China welcomes the adoption of the Program of Work of the CD in May 2009, which establishes a Working Group entitled "Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space" to discuss substantively all issues related to the prevention of an arms race in outer space. China will continue actively participating in the work of the CD. China is ready to work jointly with the international community in a positive and constructive manner to contribute to the maintenance of the peace of outer space.

The People’s Republic of China understands the concern of fellow parties to the Conference of Disarmament regarding the test launch of DF – 21 IRBM on January 11, 2007 to ‘kinetically kill’ the non-functional FengYun 1C satellite, launched on May 10, 1999 for meteorological purposes. Therefore she feels the necessity, here, to clarify her position in this respect. Beijing had formally notified the US, Japan and other countries about the test. The then Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao stated clearly the intentions of China: “What needs to be stressed is that China has always advocated the peaceful use of space, opposes the proliferation of weapons in space and an arms race in space… China has never participated and will never participate in any arms race in outer space ... This test was not directed at any country and does not constitute a threat to any country.”

The People’s Republic of China will, again, emphasise on her strong opposition to any militarization of outer space. She believes in the ideal that Outer Space is not subject to national appropriation and is an incubation ground for all the nations to pursue and develop peaceful activities for the benefit of the mankind as a whole. China believes that a multilateral arms control treaty should be appropriated to oblige the signatory nations to execute only peaceful, non-military activities in outer space. Hence, she is willing to carry out any necessary steps in this regard.

In the next article we will discuss about Issues and Solutions.

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written by Administrator, May 24, 2010

Informative series..................looking forward for the other parts.

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