Ambassador Zhang Ming: Asking China to talk with the United States about nuclear disarmament is like asking the middle school football team to play a game with Juventus

Source: Overseas Network

According to the WeChat public account of the Chinese mission to the European Union, on November 10, 2021, Ambassador Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese mission to the European Union, was interviewed by Sam Fleming, director of the Brussels bureau of the Financial Times, and journalist Andy Bounds. Some of the transcripts are as follows:

FINANCIAL TIMES: Last month, Nicholas Burns (nominated as U.S. ambassador to China) accused Beijing of exceeding its commitment to maintain a minimum nuclear deterrent. The U.S. Department of Defense reportedly believes that China plans to quadruple the number of nuclear weapons it has today by 2030. Media outlets, including the Financial Times, have also reported on China's testing of nuclear-capable hypersonic weapons. My question is simple, why is China trying to expand its nuclear capabilities so quickly and dramatically?

Zhang Ming: China is a country with a large population and a vast territory. China is also a peace-loving country, and history can confirm this. China's national defense forces are completely defensive in nature, and China adheres to peaceful development. I think there are probably few countries in the world today that are as committed to development and improving people's livelihood as China. Because our population is too large, our development starting point is too low, and our people have been hungry for too long in history. Their desire for a better life is very strong.

I have also noticed that there has been talk of China's defense budget. The fact is that China's defense budget accounts for about 1.3% of GDP. What is the concept of 1.3%? It is far from the 2 per cent standard set by NATO for member states, if it is not passed according to NATO standards. Per capita, China's military spending is lower than the global average, about 1/5 of NATO's. In terms of national defense construction, we focus on defense, and we have no willingness or ability to significantly increase spending.

The same is true of China's nuclear forces, which we have always maintained to the minimum level required for national defense and security. China has been actively promoting the substantive work of the Conference on Disarmament and the five nuclear-weapon states mechanism on reducing the risk of nuclear war and maintaining global strategic stability. I have also heard voices calling on China to join the United States in the trilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations. But China's nuclear forces and the United States are not at all on the order of magnitude, about one-twentieth of the United States. If China and the United States were to sit together and talk about nuclear disarmament, it would be like asking a middle school soccer team to play against Juventus. This is obviously meaningless.

I think what the international community should really be concerned about is the recent tripartite security partnership (AUKUS) forged by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. This exacerbates the risk of nuclear proliferation and nuclear conflict and may even trigger a new arms race, which is detrimental to international and regional peace and stability.

Media reported that China had test-fired hypersonic weapons, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson had already clarified this. In fact, this test is a spacecraft test to verify the reusable technology of spacecraft, which is of great significance for reducing the cost of spacecraft use and providing a convenient and inexpensive round-trip way for human beings to use outer space for peaceful use. There are several companies around the world that have conducted similar trials. I have also noticed that a superpower has expressed so-called concerns about China's normal spacecraft test. This country is precisely the first country in the world to develop hypersonic weapons. It was the country's Ministry of Defense that recently announced the successful testing of three prototypes of hypersonic weapon parts.

China will firmly safeguard its national interests and defend its country and people, but it will never devote its resources to a senseless arms race.