Op-Ed Contributors

Why can't the globe be nuke-free

By Guo Xiaobing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-11 07:55

The 189 countries that attended the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which ended on May 28, agreed on a "final document" at the last minute. The document, aimed at moving the world closer to nuclear disarmament, covers the three pillars of the international nonproliferation regime - nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy - and puts forward systematic action plans in every respect.

Nuclear weapon states, according to the "final document", have promised to take effective measures toward nuclear disarmament, reduce the role of nuclear weapons in their national security policies and report disarmament progress to the Preparatory Committee for the 2014 NPT Conference.

The document asks all Middle East countries to attend a conference in 2012 to create a nuclear-free zone, and urges Israel to abandon nuclear weapons as quickly as possible and join the NPT.

On strengthening the non-proliferation regime, the document encourages countries to sign the "Additional Protocol" and the revised Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, and support the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The "final document" endorses the value of the "grand bargain", which is at the core of the international non-proliferation regime. The "grand bargain" was settled by nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states when the NPT was signed in 1969. The non-nuclear weapon states had then vowed not to acquire or build nuclear weapons in exchange for the nuclear weapon states' commitment to disarmament and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons as soon as possible.

But the US has overlooked the "grand bargain" over the past few years. It didn't recognize the organic connection between nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, put one-sided emphasis on non-proliferation while ignoring disarmament, treated the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty negatively and developed a "strike-first" nuclear arms scheme.