Spokesperson on arms race in the outer space

(Feb 15, 2000)

Q: China's Disarmament Ambassador in Geneva, Mr. Hu Xiaodi, made a formal proposal to the UNCD conference on Feb.10 that negotiations should be launched in order to reach a global treaty on the prohibition of tests, deployment and use of weapons in the outer space. The Russian representative immediately endorsed China's proposal. Foreign reports are saying that China and Russia are joining hands to oppose arms race in the outer space. What is your comment on that?

A: The outer space belongs to the whole of mankind. All countries in the world have equal rights to explore and utilize the outer space for peaceful purposes. It is the shared aspiration of mankind to prevent introducing weapons and arms race into the outer space. It is noteworthy that some individual country has always had attempted, planned and acted to control the outer space unilaterally in pursuit of military and strategic advantages. There are even some new developments in this regard. If they are not stopped, it is possible that there will spread weapon to the outer space in the near future. It may even trigger a multilateral arms race in the outer space. Therefore a real and urgent question facing the international community at the moment is to take effective measures to stop the development of those negative trends.

To say that China and Russia are joining hands to oppose arms race in the outer space is not correct. It is by no means just China and Russia that oppose arms race in the outer space. The 54th Session of the UN General Assembly adopted, with an overwhelming majority, the resolution on the prevention of arms race in the outer space. One hundred and sixty-two countries voted for the resolution. This fully reflects the general will and urgent demands of the international community. The Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, as the only multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations, should make fresh contribution to reaching through negotiations an international legal instrument on the prevention of arms race in the outer space.