Posted on 03/02/2006 10:03:28 AM PST by CarrotAndStick
China urged India to abandon nuclear weapons and strengthen atomic safeguards as President George W Bush and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sealed a controversial nuclear pact on Thursday. Under the deal signed while Bush visited Delhi, the United States offered India nuclear fuel and technology in return for India agreeing to put a wall between its civilian and military nuclear facilities and place its civilian programme under international inspections.
Some US lawmakers and nuclear experts have criticised the deal, saying it weakens international safeguards, especially the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which India has refused to join.
China added its voice to these misgivings on Thursday.
India should sign the NPT and also dismantle its nuclear weapons, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, Qin Gang, told a news briefing in Beijing.
"As a signatory country, China hopes non-signatory countries will join it as soon as possible as non-nuclear weapon states, thereby contributing to strengthening the international non-proliferation regime," he said.
Qin said current international safeguards on nuclear weapons were the hard-won product of many countries' efforts and should not be weakened by exceptions.
"China hopes that concerned countries developing cooperation in peaceful nuclear uses will pay attention to these efforts. The cooperation should conform with the rules of international non-proliferation mechanisms," he said.
The NPT grants China, the United States, Russia, France and Britain status as nuclear weapons states, but bars other signatory countries from having such weapons.
China has been pursuing nuclear power cooperation with Pakistan, India's long-time rival, and has also hosted stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
Pyongyang withdrew from the NPT in 2003, after the United States accused it of enriching uranium for weapons.
China urged Iran on Thursday to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog and suspend nuclear enrichment activities, adding to rising international pressure on Tehran.
"China hopes Iran will fully cooperate with the agency and clarify the unresolved questions about its nuclear programme and will restore the international community's confidence in Iran," ministry spokesman Qin said.
Or else what, you commie gangsters?
you first China
don't hold your breath on china cooperating with us
So basicaly China is India's good prophet?
Bwahaha!
No, seriously, this is threatening.
Uh, yea right! Let's see, China to the right of uss has the bomb, the Paks to left do as well, and India is stuck in the middle. India had the bomb back in 1974 and then abandoned it under the belief of "Let's All get rid of these terrible weapons!" Well the rest of the world conveniently ignored its own treaties and pledges (US included). So what to do if you're stuck in a bad 'hood and everybody else is armed?
Those who live in glass houses....
So you're finally catching on?
Ridiculous hypocrisy by China, as they are helping Pakistan and even North Korea with nuclear weapons. The NPT needs a formalized process that outlines how it can and will be modified, what are the qualifications for how you become a member, and what are penalties for not properly participating. But right now it's just chaos, as China's comments clearly highlight.
Shouldn't every Al-Reuters story be accompanied by a Barf alert?
(Some US lawmakers and nuclear experts have criticised the deal)
Translation: Some Reuters reporters don't like anything Bush does.
I agree it's ridiculous hypocrisy--by a power who disregards something to suggest its neighbor be bound by the same words said power is effectively ignoring.
The NPT needs a formalized process that outlines how it can and will be modified, what are the qualifications for how you become a member, and what are penalties for not properly participating.
The NPT isn't enforceable--and when it was written, it was never designed to be. Why? It was written during the Cold War, at a time when the possessors of nuclear arsenals were NATO (U.S. & Allies) and the Warsaw Pact (the Soviet Sphere/Communist world).
Thus it doesn't carry the weight of international law--just the honor system, where the parties are entire nations. The original parties were infact groups of nations (NATO and Warsaw Pact).
For your changes to work, there would need to be a major rewrite and reratification of the treaty--which is labor intensive, requires much ado in negotiation, and would likely be something most countries will either avoid ratification or ignore it, Effectively putting us back at square one.
Your proposal would require the creation of the NWO by significantly expanding the power of the UN, namely by the creation of a world police force, granting the UN sole power to enforce international law by any means necessary.
Such an action is unacceptable to the free world and thus cannot be a possible solution.
The UN has supported dictators and Communism since day one. The man Truman sent to help set up the UN, Alger Hiss, was later shown to be a Soviet spy. Most of the Secretaries-General were (and are) Socialist in political orientation, and none of them came from nations on the Security Council.
India to China: You first!
LOL, what? All I said that needs to be done is the non proliferation process be formalized and rules set forth, else it remain a worthless document as it is today. It's effectively obsolete and should be discarded or re-written immediately, else the U.S. lose all respectable right to refer to it again. Unless you don't mind looking as hyprocrytical as the Chinese did, that is.
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