Femy Francis

Ten Takeaways on White Paper "China’s Arms Control, Disarmament, and Non-proliferation in the New Era"
Femy Francis 

On 27 November, Xinhua released China’s White Paper titled “China’s Arms Control, Disarmament, and Non-proliferation in the New Era,” by the State Council Information Office of China. The paper is divided into five sections and two annexes, focusing on the laws and regulations, as well as the list of agreements it is part of. The paper begins by looking at the current state of international affairs, as they call for “Peace needs to be fought for and be upheld.” The notes that China’s Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilisation Initiative, and Global Governance Initiative are working towards the shared aspiration of the international community. Regarding the aim for publishing this paper they said: “The Chinese government is publishing this white paper to comprehensively present China’s policies and practices on arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation, and its position on security governance in emerging fields such as outer space, cyberspace, and artificial intelligence (AI), to restate its commitment to safeguarding world peace and security, and to call on countries around the world to work together for international arms control.” The following are the takeaways from the paper:

First, keeping nuclear capability to a minimum
They have had and plan to continue exercising restraint regarding the scale of development of nuclear weapons. It has never engaged in a nuclear arms race, nor does it plan to support another country’s nuclear development of weapons. The paper notes that they have had the fewest number of tests amongst nuclear-weapon states and even closed their production facilities in Chongqing and Qinghai. Rather, they are focusing on developing early warning systems.

China has not conducted a known nuclear test since 1996, after which it signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and announced a formal end to its nuclear testing program. But there have been rumours that China has been conducting low-yielding tests, but they are unconfirmed.

Second, suggesting a systematic approach to nuclear disarmament
China seeks to end the permanent possession of nuclear weapons by destroying such weapons. This process needs to be gradual, and hinting at the US, it notes that countries possessing the largest nuclear arsenal should fulfil their responsibility of nuclear disarmament and make substantive reductions. It also called for all nuclear states to undertake that they will not use their capabilities to threaten a non-nuclear-weapon state.

Through this policy, China wants to evade responsibility for disarmament first, stating that the countries with the most nuclear weapons should disarm for other countries to do the same. China has significantly fewer nuclear weapons than the US and Russia, with approximately 600 warheads compared to the US's roughly 5,177 and Russia's approximately 5,459. While China stands second to the other two, it is proportionally less than the US and Russia.

Third, emphasis on nuclear self-defence strategy and no first use
The paper reasoned that China was rather compelled to develop its nuclear weapons to break the existing monopoly. Therefore, they stress that their nuclear weapons are not intended to threaten other countries but are for deterrence and self-defence. Substantiating these claims by noting that they never used nuclear weapons to threaten another country, nor have they deployed nuclear weapons outside their own territories, nor have they ever provided a nuclear umbrella for other countries. It promotes the modernisation of nuclear weapons for its own strategic security, and it is the most “stable, consistent and predictable nuclear policy among all nuclear-weapon states.”

China’s No-First Use policy positions its nuclear capabilities as a deterrent, a defensive force rather than an offence. The usage of the term “nuclear self-defence strategy” assuages that. It also positions its nuclear policy as predictable, stating that its predictability as a nuclear state. The usage of self-defence as policy also justifies China’s nuclear weapons capability while stating that it shouldn’t be seen as threatening a responsible state.

Fourth, opposing the double standards on nuclear non-proliferation
The paper states that they are against the changing stance on nuclear non-proliferation based on geopolitical interests. It cites the submarine cooperation between the US, UK, and Australia. Where they can transfer naval nuclear propulsion reactors to a non-nuclear weapons state. This opposes the NPT treaty and undermines the nuclear non-proliferation regime. China is against nuclear sharing and the concept of extended deterrence, urging nuclear powers to stop deploying nuclear weapons abroad.

This comes in light of the US having double standards towards the NPT, where on one hand, it is against nuclear proliferation. On the other hand, it has signed agreements with Asian and Pacific countries affirming nuclear support. One such example is that of the Washington Declaration signed between US-South Korea, wherein South Korea affirmed not to build its own nuclear capabilities and will be supported by the US in crisis.

Fifth, against the establishment of a missile defence system
China is against the Golden Dome initiative, a global missile defence system, seeking to deploy weapons in outer space. Additionally, it is against the deployment of intermediate-range missile systems in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. It calls to cease the deployment of offensive weapons and that China will counter any act that undermines its core interests.

The paper does not limit itself to nuclear weapons but to the deployment of long-range missiles that the US is stationing in its allies’ territories. Other than that, the Golden Dome initiative aims to weaponise outer space. The Trump administration launched this initiative wherein “a layered missile defence architecture covering the continental United States. Theoretically, it would combine multiple interceptor systems, space-based sensors, directed energy weapons, and potentially future technologies not yet operationally viable,” says the Centre for Arms Control and Ammunition.

Sixth, concerns regarding the tumultuous and uncertain international space
The background to the paper is based on the premise that the current geopolitical climate is complicated and menacing, plagued by hegemonism, unilateralism, and power politics. While there are equal efforts made towards greater equilibrium, issues of “international arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation are becoming more complex and multidimensional.”

For the last few years, China has been facing systematic international scrutiny. This year, especially, the US and China came face to face when the Trump administration imposed retaliatory tariffs on China highest among all countries. This led to a series of tariff face-offs between the two countries, and China resorted to banning and curtailing the export of its rare earths to not only the US but also other European countries. Xi Jinping and his administration, on all international platforms, are calling for multilateralism and to disengage with unilateral policies. With the sanctions imposed by the US on China and other countries, China called the policies of retaliatory tariff imposition economic bullying and unilateral measures taken by the US as unfair.

Seventh, the US as the problem
While the paper does not explicitly state the name of the US but can be inferred that the “certain country” mentioned in the paper is the US. It claims that this country is seeking absolute superiority and expanding its arms while provoking bloc confrontation. Accusing them of exercising extended deterrence and deploying missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, which in turn undermines regional security. It states the hypocrisy of their nuclear polices, which are constantly changing while they have a massive stockpile of nuclear weapons, as they call for nuclear deterrence.

China has been calling out and complaining against the unilateral actions of the US, especially under Donald Trump’s administration. It sees US involvement in the Pacific region as interference, and claims that through other countries, it is aiming to seek superiority, in turn destabilising the regional peace. China has issues with the US deploying missiles across Japan and South Korea, including the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD). It has also deployed a long-range hypersonic weapon, also known as Dark Eagle, in Australia.

Eighth, Japan should destroy its abandoned chemical weapons in China
After World War II ended, Japanese troops abandoned a large number of chemical weapons in China, which led to 2,000 poisoning casualties. It said: “Destroying its abandoned chemical weapons in China is Japan’s unshrinkable historical, political and legal responsibility, and also an international obligation stipulated by the CWC.”

While it’s not clear, the mention of Japan in the White Paper was deliberate, since the newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made statements about Taiwan. And since then, China and Japan have been on row of diplomatic row back and forth. The paper calls for Japan to take responsibility for its chemical weapons that it left in China after World War II, to evade responsibility.

Ninth, calling to develop international governance through outer space, cyberspace, and AI
The paper calls for comprehensive governance in outer space and the prevention of an arms race in outer space. It also notes that the development of the internet and technology has impacted global governance. Therefore, cyberspace has become an important sector to develop and protect. Additionally, it calls for the development of AI while ensuring safe, reliable and controllable military applications of AI. It also suggests an international governance framework for the military applications of AI.

This comes in light of the exponential rise in the innovation of technological developments in the fields of outer space, AI and cyberspace. China calls for the creation of a global framework wherein these innovations are kept in check and are used responsibly. China called to establish a World International Cooperation Organisation and Global Cyberspace governance initiatives to support this vision.

Tenth, emphasis on Non-proliferation should not curtail the peaceful development of S&T
It stressed that while China attaches importance to security challenges and proliferation risks through emerging technology. It also advocates for maintaining the right of a country to develop its use of science and technology peacefully. It calls for all states to participate in exchange for technology and the removal of undue restrictions.

The US and the European Union have banned the sale of certain chips and machinery used to develop semiconductor chips to China. Nvidia was asked by the US administration not to sell its chips, and if it does, a tracker must be added to see where they are being used. China sees this as a deliberate stopping of Chinese innovation and development. To which it retaliated by threatening to halt the sale of are earth's critical mineral, as it has the largest refiner and is the biggest producer of rare earths. This is a vital component used to make technology.

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