China and the Arms Trade Treaty
Yesterday, Monday 15th June 150 students visited the Foreign Office to start a week of action to support moves towards an Arms Trade Treaty. This matters to all of us, especially the next generation, including here in China.
The British Government strongly supports an arms trade treaty. We talk about it often with the Chinese Government, as it is a key actor in this, as in so many other debates. China and the UK both spend a lot on defence. We also both have arms industries. China has made many strong public commitments to non-proliferation and disarmament. This is the basis for a constructive conversation between us. On the Arms Trade Treaty, we are seeking to narrow our differences, and answer China's questions and concerns in multilateral negotiations.
I think there are three key reasons why an Arms Trade Treaty would be good for China , as well as good for the UK and others :
1. By establishing agreed criteria for assessing whether to export conventional arms, the Treaty will help to prevent proliferation to terrorists and insurgents.
2. China's commercial interests are expand ing rapidly and it is deploying more peacekeepers to more places. Preventing the irresponsible selling of arms will help to protect its own people overseas.
3. A treaty is also consistent with the development of a legitimate defence trade. Signing up to an Arms Trade Treaty would help countries develop a reputation as responsible arms exporters , giving them access to new markets.
An Open-Ended Working Group started work this year and is making progress towards treaty negotiations. We owe it t o our citizens to conclude a Treaty as soon as we can. We hope that we can work more closely with China on this, and come up with a practical solution that will bring benefits for all.
Posted at 12:03 16 June 2009 by Peter Wilson | Comments[0]
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