China today reaffirmed its call for the international community to take a measured, diplomatic approach to addressing the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, Reuters reported (see GSN, Aug. 5).
"It is important to resolve proliferation issues through political and diplomatic means and eradicate the root causes of nuclear weapon proliferation," said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at the international Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
Yang said China supports a worldwide ban on nuclear and space-based weapons, and is willing to cooperate with its allies on addressing the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea "with a view to safeguarding the international nonproliferation regime and maintaining regional peace and stability" (Jonathan Lynn, Reuters, Aug. 12).
"The practice of seeking absolute strategic advantage should be abandoned," the envoy said.
"Countries should neither develop missile defense systems that undermine global strategic security nor deploy weapons in outer space," he said. "Outer space is now facing the looming danger of weaponization. Credible and effective multilateral measures must be taken to forestall the weaponization and arms race in outer space."
The United States is among several nations to possess missile defense programs, and has controversially proposed to deploy such technology in Europe. It has opposed calls from China and Russia for a treaty that would prohibit space-based weapons (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Aug. 12).