DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Reuters (reprinted by permission)

China, Russia, Britain, the United States and France have agreed that a further spread of nuclear arms and a nuclear war should be avoided, according to a joint statement by the five nuclear powers published by the Kremlin on Monday (January 3).

It said that the five countries – which are the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – consider it their primary responsibility to avoid war between the nuclear states and to reduce strategic risks, while aiming to work with all countries to create an atmosphere of security.

“We affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” the English-language version of the statement read.

“As nuclear use would have far-reaching consequences, we also affirm that nuclear weapons — for as long as they continue to exist — should serve defensive purposes, deter aggression, and prevent war.”

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said the joint statement could help increase mutual trust and “replace competition among major powers with coordination and cooperation,” adding that China has a “no first use” policy on nuclear weapons, state news agency Xinhua reported.

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France also released the statement, underscoring that the five powers reiterated their determination for nuclear arms control and disarmament. They would continue bilateral and multilateral approaches to nuclear arms control, it said.

The statement from the so-called P5 group comes as bilateral relations between the United States and Moscow have fallen to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, while relations between Washington and China are also at a low over a range of disagreements.

The Pentagon in November sharply increased its estimate of China’s projected nuclear weapons arsenal over the coming years, saying Beijing could have 700 warheads by 2027 and possibly 1,000 by 2030.

Washington has repeatedly urged China to join it and Russia in a new arms control treaty.

Geopolitical tensions between Moscow and Western countries have increased over concerns about Russia’s military buildup near neighbouring Ukraine. Moscow says it can move its army around its own territory as it deems necessary.

Last Thursday U.S. President Joe Biden told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that a possible move on Ukraine would draw sanctions and an increased U.S. presence in Europe.

U.S. and Russian officials will hold security talks on Jan. 10 to discuss concerns about their respective military activity and confront rising tensions over Ukraine, the two countries said.

A conference on a major nuclear treaty that was set to begin on Tuesday at the United Nations has been postponed until August due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An open letter from Mayors for Peace

On behalf of Mayors for Peace, a global non-governmental organization with 8,059 member cities, we are writing to express our views prior to the NPT Review Conference that will open next January in New York.

We urge all participants to recall the solemn historical circumstances facing this conference. The use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had catastrophic humanitarian consequences. World leaders recognized then that a new global institution was needed to replace the League of Nations, which failed to prevent World War II. They created the UN to maintain international peace and security and the General Assembly’s first resolution set the goal of nuclear disarmament, which became a legal obligation of NPT Parties in 1970.

We wish to convey our deep concern over recent developments that seriously jeopardize prospects for achieving the great disarmament goals of this treaty, especially those found in Article VI:

• With new nuclear arms races underway, and tensions between nuclear-armed States rising to levels not seen for decades, the danger of nuclear war, by accident, miscalculation or design, is real and growing. These tensions are at their highest since the Cold War.

• We are dismayed that over the 51 years since the treaty entered into force, the nuclear-weapon States have not even begun to outline how they will jointly negotiate to eliminate their nuclear weapons, despite the treaty’s requirement for such negotiations in good faith.

• In the face of a tragic pandemic and the global economic disruption it has caused, we are deeply disappointed that vast military expenditures are continuing to grow, while basic human needs and the special needs of cities remain unaddressed.

Given these concerns, we must go back to the very basics, and reaffirm our collective duty to pursue the human ideal of a peaceful world without nuclear weapons. Now is the time to do so and here what is most needed:

• We strongly encourage States Parties to address directly the real face of nuclear weapons— their catastrophic humanitarian impact—and to make this defining aspect of these weapons a subject for discussion at the Review Conference and an urgent priority to promote through public education.

• We call on the States Parties to reaffirm all disarmament commitments made in the NPT (Article VI and preamble) and the consensus final outcome documents of the 1995 review and extension conference and the 2000 and 2010 Review Conferences. We further urge the States Parties to undertake a collective pledge to take concrete measures to implement these commitments within a designated time frame.

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(Click here for a French version of this article.)

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• We urge the States Parties to examine the implications of the dangerous and immoral doctrine of nuclear deterrence for the future of the treaty, especially Articles I and VI. We also believe that technological innovation has made nuclear weapons and deterrence an even greater threat to humanity and that it is long overdue for an NPT Review Conference to undertake a comprehensive discussion of such weapons and their associated doctrine.

• We believe that nuclear risk reduction measures are legitimate only when they are tied to concrete progress in disarmament. We call on the nuclear-weapon States to implement initiatives to make substantial and concrete progress aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear weapons use, as referred to in the “P5 Conference Paris, 2-3 December, 2021 Final Joint communiqué.”

• We urge the States Parties to recognize that the prohibition norm of the TPNW is indispensable in fully implementing Article VI and that the two treaties are fully compatible and mutually reinforcing.

Mayors for Peace hopes and expects that the States Parties will be able to achieve a consensus on the Final Document at this particular Review Conference. We remain a firm supporter of the NPT and extend our best wishes for a successful Review Conference in overcoming old obstacles and inspiring a brighter future for all.

December 13, 2021, Mayors for Peace

President Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan

Vice president Mayor of Nagasaki, Japan
Vice president Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Vice president Mayor of Volgograd, Russia
Vice president Mayor of Malakoff, France
Vice president Mayor of Muntinlupa, Philippines
Vice president Lord Mayor of Manchester, U.K.
Vice president Mayor of Ypres, Belgium
Vice president Mayor of Biograd na Moru, Croatia
Vice president Mayor of Granollers, Spain
Vice president Mayor of Halabja, Iraq
Vice president Mayor of Mexico City, Mexico
Vice president Mayor of Des Moines, U.S.

Executive Governor of Bangkok, Thailand
Executive Mayor of Fremantle, Australia
Executive Mayor of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Executive Mayor of Semey, Kazakhstan
Executive Mayor of Cochin, India
Executive Mayor of Montreal, Canada
Executive Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand
Executive Mayor of Santos, Brazil
Executive Mayor of Cartago, Costa Rica
Executive Mayor of Tehran, Iran
Executive Mayor of Grigny, France
Executive Mayor of Cervia, Italy

Mayors for Peace Secretariat C/O Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation,
1-5 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima 730-0811 Japan
Phone: +81-82-242-7821
Fax: +81-82-242-7452
E-mail: mayorcon@pcf.city.hiroshima.jp
URL: http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/index.html