2010-04-23 08:22

BEIJING -- China's nuclear strategy does not pose a threat to its neighbors, a Chinese military expert wrote in an article published on Thursday.

"Anyone who says that China's nuclear strategy poses a threat to surrounding countries is misunderstanding (China's intentions) or misleading (others), or even has ulterior motives," People's Liberation Army retired major general Xu Guangyu wrote in the People's Liberation Army Daily.

Xu said China's nuclear strategy was only a deterrent, and presents no threat.

Xu wrote: "China resolutely adheres to a defensive nuclear strategy, and has always adhered to a policy that it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances."

"The most basic feature of China's nuclear strategy, in a nutshell, is to be a deterrent but present no threat," Xu said.

Xu explained that "deterrence" meant China's nuclear power was "real, reliable, effective, and keeps up with the time, and should be able to really convince the other party that China possesses an effective and powerful nuclear second-strike capability should a foe launch an initial nuclear strike, thereby deterring an enemy from using nuclear weapons against it and thus preventing a nuclear war."

The expression, "present no threat", Xu explained, specifically referred to non-nuclear weapons states and those nuclear weapons powers that do not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against China. "The Chinese government has clearly declared that it will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons on such countries," Xu pointed out.

Last November, the US-based Federation of American Scientists and the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a report that the world's approximately 23,300 nuclear weapons were stored at an estimated 111 locations in 14 countries.

On the map of the estimated locations, China lies at the axis surrounded by countries either possessing nuclear weapons or the capability to produce nuclear weapons in Eurasia, including Russia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Japan, India and Pakistan.

Xu told Reuters the People's Liberation Army Daily commentary was intended to address worries about China's nuclear stance, especially in Japan, India and the United States.

The US said in its 2010 Nuclear Posture Review that "the lack of transparency surrounding its (China's) nuclear programs - their pace and scope, as well as the strategy and doctrine that guide them - raises questions about China's future strategic intentions," news agency AP reported.

Japan's Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said earlier this month that the country needed to hold a dialogue with China over its nuclear policy, indicating his eagerness to encourage Beijing to make efforts toward nuclear disarmament, AP said in the same report.

Beijing has reiterated its stance on nuclear weapons at an international disarmament conference that Iran hosted on April 17-18.

Cheng Guoping, assistant to Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who represented China at the conference, said the nation has been consistently proposing that nuclear weapons should be completely banned and destroyed, and that China will not be the first to use such weapons at any time and in any circumstances, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

During the two-day Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on April 12-13 attended by over 40 countries and international organizations, President Hu Jintao put forward five proposals on ways to strengthen nuclear security.

"All countries need to honor their commitments and responsibilities by adopting effective measures to secure nuclear materials and facilities," Hu noted.