Take concrete steps toward nuclear-free world

• Source: Global Times
• [08:31 September 24 2009]
• Comments

Take a middle path between realism and idealism," the traditional political wisdom goes. But when it comes to US President Barack Obama's call to build a nuclear-free world, a middle path is not needed. Concrete steps must be taken by all nations across the globe.

In a world loaded with more than 23,000 nuclear weapons that could easily devastate the whole planet many times over, Obama's scheduled call for nuclear abolition at the UN Security Council special summit on non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament today is a welcome move.

The summit is the first of its kind in the history of the 15-nation UN body. And it is exceptionally promising since the call comes from the leader of one of the two biggest nuclear powers in the world.

It sounds idealistic, but Obama's call to move toward a nuke-free planet is the product of realistic deliberation.

Not only is it a reaffirmation of the numerous proposals made by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and many others around the globe, but it can also give the US a moral advantage and add substantial credibility to its insistence in pushing forward its non-proliferation strategy.

Obama's realism on the issue goes further: While taking the lead in setting a goal for the world to reach, the US president made it clear that "America will not disarm unilaterally" and will maintain a strong deterrent as long as nuclear weapons exist.

A mixture of idealism and realism, Obama's call for abolishing nuclear weapons is an excellent example of how crucial a role the doctrine of "smart power" is playing in the diplomatic strategy of the new administration.

But as Obama told the UN General Assembly yesterday, "Power is no longer a zero-sum game." The US should further its initiative with concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament for the approach to bear fruit.

China is taking seriously the US call for creating a nuclear-free world.

It is China's long-held position that it supports the elimination of nuclear weapons and firmly opposes their proliferation in whatever forms. As a member of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, China has always strictly abided by its international obligations on the issue.

China's efforts to develop nuclear weapons in the 1950s came in response to nuclear threats from the US during the Cold War. Despite modernizing its nuclear forces in recent years, the development of China's nuclear weapons program has always merely sought the maintenance of a minimum nuclear deterrent.

And China is adding its own efforts to the process of abolishing nuclear weapons, but China's last nuke will be destroyed simultaneously with the last nuclear weapons of the big nuclear powers.

Mankind has paid a huge price for nuclear weapons, and now it has made a crucial first step toward getting rid of them by convening a summit to discuss the issue.

It's true that some nuclear weapons have already been dismantled. But for the ideal to become a reality, now is the time for big nuclear powers to take the initiative to decrease the role of nuclear weapons and reduce them to zero. A nuclear-free world is in the interest of all human beings.