China and Russia have jointly proposed a ban on the use of weapons
in outer space, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao
said yesterday.
Liu said that China has always supported the peaceful utilization
of outer space and opposed an arms race in space.
The Chinese hold that the international community should take
effective measures to maintain peace and stability in outer space,
the spokesman said.
In
recent years, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted
resolutions urging the Conference on Disarmament - as the only
multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations, held in the Swiss
city of Geneva - to make a fresh contribution to reaching, through
negotiations, an international legal instrument on the prevention
of an arms race in space.
Liu added that China and Russia had recently given members of the
disarmament conference in Geneva their working paper on the
prevention of the deployment, use and threat of use of weapons in
outer space.
The spokesman said that both countries were soliciting opinions
from other countries. China and Russia wish to conclude an
international legal instrument through negotiations at the UN
conference at an early date to ensure that outer space is used for
entirely peaceful purposes, said Liu.
Asked to comment on a Japanese senior official's remarks that Tokyo
might one day abandon its decades-old policy against nuclear
weapons, Liu said: "Japan has reaffirmed its commitment to its
non-nuclear policy to some relevant countries, including China,
through diplomatic channels."
On
Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a press
conference that, in his view, Japan could one day possess nuclear
weapons.
Japan has so far adhered to its three non-nuclear principles,
whereby it refrains from possessing, manufacturing and introducing
nuclear weapons into Japanese territory.
"We hope they can honor this commitment," Liu said.
(China
Daily June 5, 2002)