By Global Times
Is the "spectre of a nuclear war" looming?
With the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine
conflict, the international community has a
growing sense of crisis over a possible outbreak
of a nuclear war. Russian President Vladimir
Putin recently noted that high-level officials
from NATO had threatened to use nuclear weapons
against Russia. Russia possesses "lots of
weapons to reply," Putin said, while stressing
that this is not a bluff. In addition, at the
Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
warned that we are facing "a time of nuclear
danger not seen since the height of the Cold
War."
Nuclear weapons are the most lethal weapons. If
an incontrollable nuclear war breaks out, it
will bring human society into the abyss of
destruction. A recently released study shows
that a full-scale nuclear war between the US and
Russia would lead to deaths of more than 5
billion people worldwide.
Now, a dangerous signal is emerging: Whether or
not the parties are venting anger or talking
big, the frequency of discussions on nuclear
weapons is increasing. But nuclear weapons are
by no means a grenade that can be tied up on the
waist, and taken out to show off at one's whim
to scare people. The spiral escalation of war is
often unpredictable. On the issue of nuclear
war, there is no pill for regret.
Therefore, it is imperative for relevant parties
to cool down the situation as soon as possible
and create conditions for promoting peace talks.
It should be noted that the current "nuclear
tension" stems from a strong sense of insecurity
in geopolitical games. An important reason is
that the possibility of conflict between major
powers is on the rise, and global strategic
stability is being swayed rapidly. And a simple
truth is that the more peaceful and stable the
environment is, the thicker the dust will be on
nuclear weapons. But once the world is caught in
the vicious circle of "seeking greater security
- becoming less secure - wishing more for
absolute security," nuclear weapons will be
likely taken out and polished.
To make matters worse, the nuclear
non-proliferation system is more fragile than
ever. In this regard, the US and the West should
bear the main responsibility. Over the years,
the "nuclear double standards" of the US and the
West have been like a needle, which pricks on
the global nuclear non-proliferation efforts,
forming loopholes one after another, resulting
in lower nuclear threshold and a predicament in
which it is difficult to prevent nuclear
proliferation.
In addition, the US, driven by the Cold War
mindset, has strengthened bloc politics and
military alliances, sought absolute strategic
advantage, provoked confrontation between camps
in both ends of the Eurasian continent, and
promoted the forward deployment of nuclear
missile and other strategic forces. The series
of negative moves is the crux of the "nuclear
tension."
Today, Washington is the most active player in
the international arena in expressing "concerns"
about nuclear war. We believe that if Washington
means what it says, as a nuclear power and the
world's only superpower, it should do more by
taking concrete actions to alleviate the sense
of insecurity in the international community,
especially among the major powers.
For instance, it can stop developing and
deploying global anti-missile systems, stop
seeking to deploy ground-based
intermediate-range missile systems overseas,
withdrawing nuclear weapons deployed abroad as
soon as possible, and refraining from
replicating "nuclear sharing" arrangements in
any form in the Asia-Pacific region, etc. Only
if the US does these first will it be in a
position to issue demands on others.
The US and Russia, which possess the largest
nuclear arsenals, should effectively fulfill
their special and preferential historical
responsibility for nuclear disarmament and
further reduce their respective nuclear arsenals
significantly and substantially in a verifiable,
irreversible and legally binding manner, so as
to create conditions for the eventual
achievement of all-out and complete nuclear
disarmament. Furthermore, we call on the
nuclear-weapon states to abandon their nuclear
deterrence strategies that focus on pre-emptive
strikes. As is well known, China is the only one
among the five nuclear-weapon states to have
pledged to "no first use" of nuclear weapons. It
will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons
against non-nuclear-weapon states or
nuclear-weapon-free zones. It plays an extremely
important role in reducing nuclear risks and
preventing nuclear conflicts. We hope other
nuclear-weapon states, especially the nuclear
powers, could follow China's lead.
Earlier this year, the leaders of the five
nuclear-weapon states, including China, Russia,
the US, the UK and France, issued the Joint
Statement of the Leaders of the Five
Nuclear-Weapon States on Preventing Nuclear War
and Avoiding Arms Races, affirming that "a
nuclear war cannot be won and must never be
fought." The prevention of nuclear war is
fundamental to maintaining global strategic
stability and ensuring undiminished security for
all. Only in this way can the nuclear weapons at
hand "serve defense purposes, deter aggression,
and prevent war," and create a safe environment
more conducive to promoting disarmament and
ultimately building a world free of nuclear
weapons.
Views expressed in this article are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
in this article are
solely those of the author and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
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