China should ‘fine-tune’ nuclear weapons policy amid US pressure, ex-diplomat says
- Former disarmament affairs envoy to UN calls for review of ‘no first use’ pledge as a way to counter America’s growing military presence in region
- In a speech, Sha Zukang also says it is only ‘a matter of time’ before Beijing joins an arms control pact with Washington and Moscow
Sha Zukang, who was the Chinese ambassador for disarmament affairs to the UN in Geneva in the 1990s and is now retired, also said it was only “a matter of time” before China joined an arms control pact with the US and Russia, but that would depend on American progress on nuclear arms reduction.
He made the remarks at a conference in Beijing last week marking 20 years since the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association was founded.
According to a transcript of his speech released on Wednesday, Sha said China had taken the “moral high ground” with its pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time or under any circumstances when it first gained nuclear capabilities in 1964.
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But he said it was now time for Beijing to “fine-tune” that policy as a way to counter the increasing US military presence in the region, noting that the United States regarded China as a major rival or even an adversary.