A Chinese envoy said Tuesday that non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and their means of delivery should be achieved through multilateralism.
The issue of non-proliferation is a global challenge, which cannot be solved without multilateral cooperation and the guidance of the United Nations, said Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.
All parties should uphold a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable global security vision, accommodate legitimate concerns of all countries, eliminate the root causes of proliferation, and seek common security, he told the Security Council.
It is imperative to strengthen the collective security mechanism with the United Nations at its core, uphold the authority of the Security Council, and address non-proliferation issues by political and diplomatic means and through dialogue and consultation, he said.
Geng called for efforts to consolidate and improve the international non-proliferation regime.
The international community should further enhance the universality of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention, and the Chemical Weapons Convention to ensure their comprehensive, effective, and balanced implementation, he said.
New technology, such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, gene editing and synthetic biology, may be used for the proliferation of WMDs and their means of delivery. Countries should strengthen government supervision and carry out international cooperation to effectively prevent non-state actors from abusing these new technologies for proliferation activities, he said, adding that non-proliferation goals should not be achieved at the expense of scientific and technological progress.
Geng also asked for efforts to strengthen the implementation of Resolution 1540 through the comprehensive review mechanism.
China firmly opposes the proliferation of WMDs and their means of delivery, he said, noting that the country has always scrupulously fulfilled its international non-proliferation obligations and made contributions to strengthening non-proliferation at national, regional, and international levels with concrete actions.
China will continue to work with all parties to promote the effective implementation of Resolution 1540, advance the comprehensive review of the resolution and make a positive contribution to strengthening the global governance of non-proliferation, he said.
