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 the two annexes, focusing on the laws and regulations and 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, 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.”

Second, 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.

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.”

Fourth, 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.

Fifth, 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.

Sixth, 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.

Seventh, 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.

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.”

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.

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.