APLN Policy Brief 45

After the negotiation of the treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, the danger has increased that the deepening division in the international community about disarmament approaches could drive countries further away from working cooperatively to advance the disarmament objective. As a nuclear weapon state and an emerging global power, China can and should take steps to respond constructively to the treaty and to help mitigate the growing international division. China shares the spirit of the treaty. Some core principles in the treaty also align with China’s policy goals. Even as a non-State Party, China can engage substantively with supporters of the treaty in a number of areas. Building on the momentum of the treaty and engaging proactively with non-nuclear weapons states are necessary steps to preserve the international consensus on disarmament and can be an important indicator of China’s global leadership.

About the Author

Tong Zhao is a fellow at the Nuclear Policy Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, based in Beijing at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. His research focuses on strategic security issues, including nuclear arms control, non-proliferation, missile defence, space security, strategic stability and China’s security and foreign policy. He was previously a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow with the Managing the Atom Project and the International Security Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University.

Image: Adobe stock, Christian Wittmann.