China and Russia back pact to ban space weapons

["Ulhas Joglekar" <ulhasj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

11 February 2000

China and Russia back pact to ban space weapons
GENEVA: China on Thursday formally proposed negotiations to conclude a
global treaty which would ban the testing, deployment and use of weapons in
outer space.
Russia's Ambassador Vasily Sidorov immediately took the floor at the
Conference on Disarmament to back the proposal by China's envoy Hu Xiaodi.
Both China and Russia have denounced recent U.S. missile tests and argue
that a proposed U.S. national defense system would violate the landmark
Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.
In bilateral arms control talks, the United States is seeking amendments to
the 1972 treaty, which limits the type of systems which Russia and the
United States may deploy to intercept incoming missiles.
Hu said negotiations on preventing an arms race in outer space should be
"one of the highest priorities" on the agenda of the United Nations forum.
He submitted a proposal to set up a committee to launch the talks at the
66-member state body. "The negotiation and conclusion of an international
legal instrument or instruments on the prevention of the weaponization of
and an arms race in outer space should be set as the definite direction and
ultimate goal of the work of the committee," Hu told the Geneva talks.
"China has always opposed arms races of any kind, including an arms race in
outer space. This basic position remains unchanged," he added.
The United States, which is considering whether to build a $12.7 billion
national missile defense system it says could intercept missiles fired by
"rogue states," is the only member opposed to setting up a negotiating
committee, diplomats say.
The U.S. delegation is expected to continue to block the required consensus
for decision-taking.
Russia's Sidorov said that "events in recent times" should incite the
Conference on Disarmament to act on outer space.
"It is urgent to tackle this problem," he declared.
The Geneva body, the world's only multilateral disarmament forum, has been
deadlocked for four years. It has been unable to conduct full-fledged
negotiations on any issue since those on the nuclear test ban which ended in
1996.
There are divisions among the five official nuclear powers -- Britain,
China, France, Russia and the United States -- and between the five and the
developing countries led by India and Pakistan, according to diplomats.
(Reuters)
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