OSINFO - Open Sources Information

Cold War Thinking

Chinese analysts and officials frequently state that much of the difficulty in achieving the aims of arms control and disarmament stems from Cold War thinking on the part of the West. At the same time, there remain Cold War era vestiges in China's own thinking.

When levied against the United States and Russia, the charge of "Cold War thinking" equates with an inability to relinquish balance-of-power politics, whether through arms racing or extended deterrence. In the case of China, this term is temporal in nature, as China has continued its call for disarmament throughout the Cold War into the present day.

Yet, the question remains as to whether or not these long-held Chinese principles of disarmament are compatible with the current U.S. push for nuclear zero. Understanding the logic that underpins these principles is essential to engaging China more effectively on disarmament.

Old Wine in New Bottles

China's perpetuation of "old wine in new bottles" becomes abundantly clear when surveying the writings of Chinese analysts on the subject of disarmament and arms control. References to Mao Zedong's support for global disarmament and his famous counsel that in order to eradicate nuclear weapons, a country must first possess them continue to punctuate this literature.

In fact, many of China's basic arms control and disarmament principles have been retained for more than four decades.[1] The most frequently mentioned milestones date to China's stated commitment to disarmament following its first nuclear test in 1964, later expounded upon in its "Proposal on Essential Measures for an Immediate Halt to the Arms Race and for Disarmament" put forward by the Chinese delegation at the Special Session of the U.N. General Assembly on Disarmament in 1982.[2]

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