At UN, Chinese official urges global strategic stability

A Chinese head of delegation on Thursday urged the international community to work together to maintain global strategic stability and reduce strategic risks.

Sun Xiaobo, head of the Chinese delegation and director-general of the department of arms control of the Foreign Ministry, spoke at the General Assembly of the United Nations Disarmament and International Security Committee, or the First Committee of the 78th UN General Assembly on Thursday.

Sun pointed out that in the field of international security, Cold War mentalities, such as zero-sum games and bloc confrontations, have made a comeback, leading to intensified geopolitical conflicts that impact global strategic balance and stability.

"Some countries are actively pursuing absolute military superiority, accelerating the development of advanced combat capabilities, and constructing a 'technological iron curtain.' This has led human society to face unprecedented multiple security dilemmas," Sun said.

"The world today is a community with a shared future in which everyone thrives or suffers together. People from all countries yearn for a world characterized by lasting peace and universal security," said Sun.

China's Global Security Initiative "advocates a spirit of unity to adapt to the significantly altered international landscape", said Sun.

The initiative "promotes a win-win mindset to address complex and interwoven security challenges. This initiative exemplifies the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind in the realm of security and offers a Chinese solution to achieve lasting world peace," he continued.

Sun also stressed the importance of safeguarding the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation system, with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as the cornerstone, and advancing its three major goals in a balanced manner.

He called for better coordination between security and development and emphasized the need to strengthen governance over emerging technologies, including cybersecurity, outer space and artificial intelligence.

Sun urged the international community to safeguard the authority and effectiveness of existing multilateral disarmament mechanisms.

In the face of new situations and challenges, Sun emphasized the universal implementation of the "no-first-use" nuclear weapons policy. He also called for the continuation of nuclear disarmament based on the principles of fairness, reasonableness, gradual reduction and balance, as well as the principles of maintaining global strategic stability and ensuring the security of all countries, said Sun, adding that those principles should be promoted in a rational, pragmatic and step-by-step manner.

Sun also addressed China's position regarding the peaceful use of science and technology, the Iranian nuclear issue, the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, the trilateral Australia-UK-US cooperation on nuclear submarines, and Japan's release of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.