Global General

China supports building Middle East nuke-free zone

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-17 09:27

VIENNA - China supported the proposal of establishing a Middle East nuclear-weapon-free zone, a senior Chinese diplomat said here Thursday.

China had always stood by strengthening the international non-proliferation regime, and committed to advancing the universality, effectiveness and authority of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), said Hu Xiaodi, China's permanent representative and ambassador to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Vienna.

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To this end, China supported building a Middle East nuclear-weapon-free zone, maintained Israel should join the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon state at an early date, and put all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Hu, who was addressing the IAEA board meeting, which started Monday.

"Meanwhile, all countries in the region should conscientiously fulfill NPT obligations, as well as sign and ratify the IAEA safeguards agreements and its Additional Protocols," Hu added.

He went on to say China welcomed the proposal endorsed in the final document of the NPT Review Conference this May, which calls for convening an international conference in 2012 on the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction in Middle East.

Hu also stressed the willingness of the Chinese to work with the international community for a non-nuclear-weapon area in the Middle East, and achieving peace and stability in the region.