Engaged with the other permanent members of the UN Security Council to refuse any “nuclear war”, Beijing on Tuesday called on Washington and Moscow to reduce their arsenals. In rare unanimity, the five powers (United States, China, Russia, United Kingdom and France), declared Monday with one voice that they are committed to preventing the spread of atomic weapons.
They assured that a “nuclear war could not be won and must never be waged”, insisting that these weapons “as long as they exist, must serve for defensive purposes, deterrence and prevention of war”. This concept of unmanageable nuclear war was evoked in 1985 in Geneva by the Soviet heads of state Mikhail Gorbachev and American Ronald Reagan. He had never been taken over by the P5.
“Irreversible”
According to estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), the United States has 5,550 nuclear weapons and Russia 6,255 – against China 350. “The United States and Russia still own 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads. They must reduce their nuclear arsenal in an irreversible and legally binding way, ”said Fu Cong, director general of the arms control service at the Chinese foreign ministry.
British and American media have published information in recent months that Beijing has reached a high level of expertise in so-called “hypersonic” missiles – with more unpredictable trajectories and capable of carrying nuclear warheads. China has, according to them, tested a new hypersonic missile capable of launching a projectile in turn, a technology that neither the United States nor Russia currently has.
“China has always adopted the policy of non-first use of nuclear weapons and we maintain our nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required for our national security,” said Fu Cong. “China will continue to modernize its nuclear arsenal for reliability and security issues. Nuclear weapons are aging, too. We need to make sure ours are up to date and can act as a deterrent. “
