China, Russia urge nuclear-weapon states to maintain ‘constructive relationship’

MOSCOW: China and Russia urged nuclear-weapon states to abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum games, according to a joint statement on global strategic stability released here on Thursday.

The two sides emphasized the importance of maintaining a constructive relationship among major countries in addressing global strategic issues.

Noting that nuclear-weapon states bear special responsibilities for international security and global strategic stability, the statement said that they should give up taking measures that trigger strategic risks, and concerns should be addressed through equal dialogue and consultations based on mutual respect to enhance trust and avoid dangerous misjudgments.

The statement noted that not all nuclear-weapon states follow the above-mentioned position, saying the rising tensions among nuclear-weapon states have escalated, even to the point of facing direct military conflicts, adding that problems and challenges in the strategic domain keep emerging, and the risk of nuclear conflicts is rising.

According to the statement, the fact that certain nuclear-weapon states build or expand permanent military bases in sensitive areas around other nuclear-weapon states, flex military muscle to exert pressure, or carry out hostile acts that threaten the core security interests of other countries has become one of the most urgent strategic risks to be eliminated.

Meanwhile, the forward deployment of military facilities and advanced offensive and defensive weapons have been continuously strengthened, a trend that has raised serious concerns.

The recently announced “Golden Dome” plan of the United States aims to build a global, multi-level and multi-domain missile defense system that is not subject to any constraints to resist various missile threats, including those from “evenly matched” opponents, said the statement, adding that it also causes serious damage to strategic stability.

This plan completely and thoroughly negates the inseparable interrelationship between strategic offensive and strategic defensive arms, the core principle on maintaining global strategic stability.

In addition, this plan also provides further support for the research and development of kinetic and non-kinetic means to strike missiles and their supporting facilities and achieve “left-of-launch.”

Any military confrontation among nuclear-weapon states should be resolutely avoided, said the document, adding that political and diplomatic solutions to existing differences should be sought on the basis of mutual recognition of and mutual respect for each other’s security interests and concerns.