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I. Promoting Peace and Development
for All Mankind

Working for lasting world peace and creating a happy life and an advancedculture for all mankind, lofty ideals held by all the world's peoples,are likewise the sincerely held aspirations of the Chinese people.

The Chinese nation loves peace dearly and has made major contributionsto peace and other progressive causes for all of mankind. Modern historyhas served as grim witness to China's great sufferings and the humiliationof the Chinese people as the result of imperialist and colonialist invasionand partition. Countless Chinese sons and daughters shed their blood orlaid down their lives to free the nation from this cruel bondage and plundering,advancing wave upon wave, until national liberation and independence werefinally won under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The Chinesepeople know only too well the true value of independence, sovereignty andequality.

China's guiding principle of seeking peace and development has beenreflected in each of the constitutions the nation has adopted since thefounding of New China. The Common Programme of the Chinese People's PoliticalConsultative Conference, which was passed at the First Plenary Sessionof the CPPCC in September, 1949 and served as a provisional state constitution,affirmed that China would "stand for lasting international peace andfriendly cooperation among the people of the world, and oppose the imperialistpolicies of aggression and war." The Constitution of 1954 stipulatedthat "the steadfast policy of our country in internationalaffairs is to work hard for the lofty goal of world peace and progressfor mankind." The present Constitution, adopted in 1982, once againstates that China "strives to safeguard world peace and promote thecause of human progress."

The forces for world peace have grown rapidly since the 1980s, and peaceand development have become the two major issues of the day. China's scientificanalysis of the development trends and characteristics of the internationalsituation has produced the conclusion that with the concerted efforts ofpeople throughout the world, a new world war can not only be deferred butit can possibly be avoided as well. In the new era of peace and development,the task of first importance facing the Chinese people is to develop theeconomy and change the poverty and backwardness of the nation. With thisin mind, China has focused its development strategy on economic construction.

China's modernization programme is an important component of the causefor the common development and progress of mankind. A peaceful internationalenvironment is necessary for China's development and a prosperous and stableChina, in turn, will increasingly benefit world peace. For this reason,China unwaveringly pursues a foreign policy of peace and independence.It resolutely protects its national independence and sovereignty and opposesforeign interference; seeks to establish and develop extensive, friendlyrelations with all the world's countries on the basis of the Five Principlesof Peaceful Coexistence, strengthen unity and cooperation with developingcountries and actively develop good-neighbourly relations with borderingnations; stands for the proposition that all nations, big or small, areequal and opposes hegemonism and power politics in any form; advocatesthe settlement of international disputes through peaceful means; and opposesthe threat or use of force in international relations.

China's national defence policy is defensive in nature. Its basicgoals are to consolidate national defence, resist foreign aggression, defendthe nation's sovereignty over its land, sea and air as well as its maritimerights and interests, and safeguard national unity and security. Nationaldefence work in China is subordinate to and in service of the nation'soverall economic construction, adhering to the principles of "combiningpeacetime with wartime" and "integrating the army with the people."In terms of military strategy, China follows a policy of positive defenceand adheres to the idea of people's war. China does not seek world or regionalhegemony. China does not station any troops or set up any military basesin any foreign country. China's national defence construction is not directedagainst any country, and thus, does not pose a threat to any country.

During the course of foreign policy implementation and national defenceconstruction, China attaches importance to the active role of arms controland disarmament, holding that arms control and disarmament are conduciveto reducing and eliminating the danger of war and increasing factors forinternational peace and security. Such controls and reductions will helpimprove relations and mutual trust among nations and will enable the contributionof more resources, capital and technology to economic and social development.

Protracted, unremitting efforts by the international community haveled to great progress in international arms control and disarmament inthe past few years. Nonetheless, mankind should remain coolly cognizantthat the path to international arms control and disarmament is still extremelycomplex and difficult. While some progress has been made in nuclear disarmament,the major nuclear powers, with the world's most sophisticated and largestquantity of nuclear weapons in hand, have neither abandoned their policyof nuclear deterrence nor stopped the development of nuclear weapons andouter space weapons including guided missile defence systems. On the onehand, they vie with one another in dumping their advanced weaponson the international market, even using weapons transfers as a means tointerfere in other nations' domestic affairs. On the other, they resortto discriminative antiproliferation and arms control measures, directingthe spearhead of arms control at the developing countries.

China holds that the international community should promote fair, rational,comprehensive and balanced arms control and disarmament and observe thefollowing principles:

--All nations should follow the purposes and principles for safeguardinginternational peace and security contained in the Charter of the UnitedNations and other relevant international legal norms. At the same timearms control and disarmament is worked for, aggression must be curbed.Regional conflicts must be fairly and rationally resolved and force orthreat of force should not be used in international relations. Hegemonismand power politics should be eliminated in international relations, soas to create an international environment and conditions favourable todisarmament.

--The ultimate goal of disarmament is the complete prohibition and thoroughdestruction of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (includingchemical and biological weapons), the complete prohibition of outer spaceweapons, and reductions in conventional arms as befits actual circumstances.The big powers, possessors of the largest and most sophisticated nuclearand conventional arsenals, bear a special responsibility in arms controland disarmament.

--Preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The preventionof proliferation is not in itself the ultimate goal. Only through completeprohibition and thorough destruction of such weapons can proliferationbe effectively prevented. Preventing proliferation should neither presentan obstacle to the just rights and interests of all countries in the peacefuluse of science and technology nor restrict or harm economic, scientificand technological development in developing countries.

--All nations have the right to maintaining an appropriate nationaldefence capability and to legitimate self-defence. It is necessary at allstages of the arms control and disarmament process to ensure all nationsfrom sustaining damage to their security. All nations, big or small, havethe right to join in discussions and decisions on arms control and disarmamenton an equal basis. The implementation of international arms control anddisarmament must not impair the independence and sovereignty of any nation,entail the use of force or the threat of force, or interfere with the internalaffairs of any nation.

--All countries, particularly developed nations, should strictly controlthe transfer of sensitive materials, technologies and military equipment,practise restraint and halt the irresponsible transfer of weapons.

--All nations should endorse, respect and support the arms control anddisarmament measures adopted after voluntary consultation, negotiationand agreement between nations and in light of actual regional circumstances.

For many years China has adhered to these basic principles, bearingits due share of international arms control and disarmament obligationsand responsibilities, working hard to promote peace and development forhumanity.