UN Under-Secretary-General Hopes China Will Keep No-First-Use Nuclear Weapons Policy

UN Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told Sputnik on Saturday that she was hoping that China would remain committed to its no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2021) UN Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told Sputnik on Saturday that she was hoping that China would remain committed to its no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons.

Last week, China's former ambassador to the UN, Sha Zukang called on Beijing to reexamine its 'no-first-use' policy, the Daily Mail reported. His suggestion came on the same week that Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States announced a new security alliance, AUKUS. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the new pact undermined regional stability and could provoke an arms race.

"China has been strongly committed to no-first use principle and I think it's a very good thing so I hope that no change will happen in that policy of China," Nakamitsu said.

Russian Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said the AUKUS alliance appeared to be directed against China. Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, when asked if the pact was targeting China, said that it was not "aimed at anything or anyone."