China and Russia think tanks release a joint report exposing risks and cooperation in US, UK, and Australia nuclear submarine cooperation | nuclear submarines | UK and Australia
The China Association for Arms Control and Disarmament and the Russian Energy and Security Research Center released a joint research report on the risks of US UK Australian nuclear submarine cooperation to nuclear non-proliferation mechanisms and global security in Vienna, Austria on the 2nd. The report reveals that the cooperation between the United States, Britain, and Australia on nuclear submarines has intensified the risk of nuclear proliferation, posing a serious challenge to the international nuclear non-proliferation system and the International Atomic Energy Agency's safeguards mechanism, and posing a serious threat to regional peace and stability.
On the same day, two think tanks from China and Russia held a seminar on the risks of nuclear proliferation in cooperation with the United States, Britain, and Australia on nuclear submarines at the Vienna International Center during the first preparatory meeting of the Eleventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and released the report at the conference.
The report points out that the cooperation between the United States, Britain, and Australia on nuclear submarines is a major challenge facing the current international nuclear non-proliferation mechanism. How to properly handle the nuclear proliferation risks in the cooperation between the three countries on nuclear submarines is related to the authority and effectiveness of the international nuclear non-proliferation mechanism, as well as to the cause of international peace, security, and development.
The report systematically summarizes the relevant trends of the United States, Britain, and Australia in forcibly promoting nuclear submarine cooperation despite criticism and opposition from the international community. It points out that the cooperation on nuclear submarines among the three countries involves the first transfer of several tons of weapon grade highly enriched uranium by a nuclear weapon state to a non nuclear weapon state, which seriously violates the goals and spirit of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and has aroused high concern and controversy from the international community.
The report provides an in-depth analysis of the negative impacts of the cooperation between the United States, Britain, and Australia on nuclear submarines, including the impact on the International Atomic Energy Agency's safeguards system, damage to the South Pacific Nuclear Weapon Free Zone, disruption to the nuclear supplier group and missile technology control system, triggering nuclear safety and security risks, stimulating regional nuclear arms races, and undermining global security. It urges the international community to continue seeking solutions through an open, transparent, and inclusive intergovernmental process, and proposes specific suggestions on how to further address the issue of cooperation between the United States, Britain, and Australia on nuclear submarines.
Former Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, said at the seminar that the cooperation between the United States, Britain, and Australia on nuclear submarines is essentially a provocation of confrontation through military cooperation, which is a typical manifestation of Cold War thinking. It will undermine peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region and fully expose the dual standards of the three countries on nuclear non-proliferation issues.
At the meeting, Li Song, the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, pointed out that at the level of the International Atomic Energy Agency, given that the cooperation between the United States, Britain, and Australia on nuclear submarines involves new areas of safeguards and creates important precedents, it should refer to the historical practice of developing and improving the safeguards system, and be handled by the member countries of the agency through consensus. China will continue to be committed to promoting an open, inclusive, and sustainable intergovernmental discussion process at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Ustinov, Charg é d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the International Organization in Vienna, stated that the cooperation between the United States, Britain, and Australia on nuclear submarines involves various political, legal, and technical issues, and cannot be privately entrusted or handled by the three countries and the Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Russian side supports the intergovernmental discussion process initiated by China in the International Atomic Energy Agency, and supports the normalization and institutionalization of relevant discussions.
More than 70 representatives from countries such as Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, as well as experts and scholars from the International Atomic Energy Agency Secretariat and think tanks, attended the seminar.
