Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN. Photo: Foreign Ministry official website

Countries with the largest nuclear arsenals should earnestly fulfill their special and priority responsibilities and further significantly and substantially reduce their nuclear arsenals to create conditions for the eventual realization of comprehensive and complete nuclear disarmament, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, told the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday.

The UNGA held a high-level meeting on Monday to mark the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. As UN described, it provides an opportunity to educate the public ̶ and their leaders ̶ about the real benefits of eliminating such weapons, and the social and economic costs of perpetuating them.

Geng said during the meeting that the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons and the eventual establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free world serves the common interests of mankind and is the shared aspiration of all countries.

For some time, certain countries have been obsessed with "major power strategic competition," constantly strengthening military alliances, provoking confrontation between parties, advancing forward deployment of strategic forces, and insisting on nuclear submarine cooperation. These actions aggravate the risk of nuclear arms race and nuclear proliferation, hinder international nuclear disarmament efforts, and run counter to the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons and building a world free of nuclear weapons. "They should be terminated immediately," Geng said.

Mankind is an indivisible security community, and no country should seek its own security at the expense of others, Geng said.

Geng also stressed that China has been committed to maintaining its nuclear force at the minimum level required for national security. And China does not compare its input, quantity, or scale with other countries, or engage in a nuclear arms race with any other country. Besides, China will continue to practice true multilateralism, work with the international community in order to advance nuclear disarmament, and make unremitting efforts to build a world free of nuclear weapons.

Global Times