Pak, China in regular exchange of views on arms control

BEIJING—China maintained regular consultations and exchanges on nuclear non-proliferation and arms controls with Pakistan, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, the US and the EU.
This was stated by Zhang Yan, director of the Department of Arms Control and Disarmament under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In statement issued here, he said China, in strict compliance with its non-proliferation policies and export control laws and regulations, worked with relevant countries to crack down on proliferation activities through information exchange and law-enforcement cooperation.
China supports the role of relevant regional organizations and mechanisms in the field of non-proliferation, and has participated in relevant exchanges and dialogues in a constructive manner, exploring effective ways to address non-proliferation issues at the regional level.
Zhang said, China is ready to keep contact and coordination with other parties to jointly promote the regional non-proliferation process.
He said, his country’s long-standing policy of not being the first to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances will remain unchanged in the future.
“Since the first day when it came into possession of nuclear weapons, the Chinese government has solemnly declared that it would not be the first to use such weapons at any time and in any circumstance and committed unconditionally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones,” he added.
Zhang Yang further said China has persistently exercised the utmost restraint on the scale and development of its nuclear weapons.
“China has conducted the smallest number of nuclear tests among the nuclear-weapon states. China has never taken part and will never take part in a nuclear arms race,” he said.
He urged certain countries to adopt a prudential attitude towards the development of missile defense systems, noting it might influence the stability of the international system and international strategies, relations between countries and regional security and trigger the proliferation of missile technology. On China’s military expenditure, Zhang said China has kept its defense expenditure under strict control in order to concentrate its strength on economic development. The defence expenditure amounts to only 5.77 percent of that of the United States, 41.03 percent that of the United Kingdom, 75.65 percent that of France and 63.97 percent that of Japan in 2004.—Agencies