Media reports from the United States say the Barack Obama administration is conducting a "nuclear posture review", aimed at reducing nuclear arsenals and reassessing the importance of nuclear weapons in America's national security strategy.

A "historic change" this review could consider is adopting a policy of no-first use of nuclear weapons. An issue related to the review is limiting the use of nuclear weapons to deter nuclear strikes - in other words, nuclear weapons should not be a deterrent to biological, chemical or conventional weapon attacks.

Recently, the Japanese foreign minister said Tokyo would request Washington to adopt a policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons. The earlier Japanese government, too, had called for the destruction of nuclear weapons. It, however, had asked the US to be the first to use nuclear weapons to defend Japan.

In Europe, the German foreign minister has said his country, too, would like to contribute to nuclear disarmament by asking the US to remove all nuclear weapons from its installations in Germany, because they are a relic of the Cold War.

For years, the US has been refusing to consider adopting a policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons, citing the needs of its strategic allies as an excuse. So there is reason to believe that the appeal of its two important allies in Asia and Europe may have prompted the Obama administration to carry out a "nuclear posture review".

History tells us that George Kennan, American security strategy expert, first put forward the idea "no-first-use of nuclear weapons". Sixty years ago, Kennan said in a memorandum to the then US secretary of state that the erstwhile Soviet Union was trying to avoid a nuclear war.

Therefore, he suggested, the US should reconsider its nuclear strategy and change the policy of being the first to use nuclear weapons in case of war with the Soviet Union to gain control of the nuclear situation. Kennan's suggestion was ignored.

At a summit in Geneva five years later, the Soviet Union proposed that Moscow, Washington and London adopt a policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons against any country. But the other nuclear powers (China was not one then) didn't accept the idea, perhaps because of the Cold War.

China was the first nuclear power to unilaterally declare it would not be the first to use nuclear weapons against any country. After testing its first atomic bomb, it pledged to use nuclear weapons only as counter-measure against a nuclear strike. China has not changed its stance in more than 45 years - even after being blackmailed by the superpowers.

After the end of the Cold War, the nuclear powers began to take confidence-building measures, which helped efforts to stabilize relations among the big powers. In 1992, China and Russia agreed, though temporarily, not to be the first to use nuclear weapons against one another.

Two years later, Beijing presented a draft "Treaty on No-First-Use of Nuclear Weapons" to other nuclear powers and urged relevant countries to hold discussions on it. In 2000, the five (recognized) nuclear powers issued a joint statement saying their nuclear weapons would not target at any country. The next year, China and Russia finally signed a treaty on no-first-use of nuclear weapons against one another - the first such treaty between two nuclear powers.

Now, the international community is looking forward to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty's next review conference, which is scheduled for May, because it will be an important occasion for the nuclear powers to fulfill their commitments, promote nuclear disarmament and reduce the risk of a nuclear war.

If the five nuclear powers can agree to the no-first-use principle at the conference, it would be a big step toward a nuclear-weapon-free world. But if the country with the largest and most advanced nuclear and conventional weapons' arsenal still refuses to accept the no-first-use principle, non-nuclear-weapon states would find it difficult to believe its sincerity in realizing a nuclear-weapon-free world.

By using nuclear weapons merely as deterrence against nuclear strikes, the five countries can effectively raise the threshold of nuclear weapons' use and reduce the risk of nuclear accidents.

This will play a big role in safeguarding international security, accelerating the process of nuclear disarmament, and maintaining the nuclear non-proliferation regime and global stability. In fact, if the nuclear powers agree not to be the first to use nuclear weapons, it would be conducive to realizing the ultimate goal of complete non-proliferation and total destruction of nuclear weapons.

The author is a senior research fellow with China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

Source: Xinhua News Agency