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US calls for Russian, Chinese nuclear transparency
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Jan 30, 2019

Democratic White House hopeful Warren offers law barring first use of nukes
Washington (AFP) Jan 30, 2019 - Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed legislation Wednesday that would bar the US government from using nuclear weapons first in a conflict.

Warren, together with House legislator Adam Smith, submitted the No First Use Act to codify what they said most Americans support, that the United States should never initiate a nuclear conflict.

"Our current nuclear strategy is not just outdated -- it is dangerous, Warren and Smith said in a statement.

"By making clear that deterrence is the sole purpose of our arsenal, this bill would reduce the chances of a nuclear miscalculation and help us maintain our moral and diplomatic leadership in the world."

In the divided Congress, passing the law, which would be seen by conservatives as tying the US military's hands on battle strategy, would be difficult.

And President Trump would likely veto it.

Trump has showed a determination to maintain US military advantage over its rivals, including in the nuclear sphere.

Last year, he announced he intended to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia, accusing Moscow of violating the pact to gain advantage.

Warren's bill gives the 69-year-old Massachusetts senator a chance to lay out her defense stance as she prepares for an expected run for the White House in the 2020 election, positioning herself as a progressive.

The proposal came as the Trump administration wrestles with an increasingly complex nuclear rivalry with Russia and China.

In non-proliferation talks in China earlier Wednesday, Washington accused Moscow and Beijing of not fully reporting their nuclear programs and called for more transparency, in order to enforce the 1970 Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons treaty.

Separately, on Tuesday Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Ted Lieu, both Democrats, introduced legislation that would prevent the US president from launching a nuclear first strike without Congress's approval.

Currently, the decision to unleash a nuclear weapon is the president's alone.

"Trump's brand is to be unpredictable and rash, which is exactly what you don't want the person who possesses the nuclear football to be," said Lieu, referring to the nickname for the briefcase always kept close to the president that carries the mechanism and codes needed to launch a nuclear strike.

The United States accused Russia and China of not fully reporting their nuclear programmes Wednesday and called for more transparency, amid US threats to withdraw from a key arms control treaty.

A senior US official made the remarks as the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- all of them nuclear-armed powers -- met in Beijing for talks on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Andrea Thompson, US under secretary for arms control and international security, said there were "uneven results" in efforts to advance transparency under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

"We previously agreed to set (a) format for reporting, but the gap between the reports of the United States on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other, is great," Thompson said in her opening remarks.

"I cannot overemphasise the value of transparency," she said.

Officials from Russia, China, France and Britain -- countries under the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) treaty -- also attended the meeting, which will continue on Thursday.

Russia has also proposed holding a new round of talks with the US in Beijing on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) -- a source of raging tensions between Moscow and Washington.

"If Americans accept our proposal, they (the talks) will take place," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday.

The talks, if conducted, would come just before the February 2 expiration date of US President Donald Trump's 60-day deadline to start withdrawing from the INF treaty.

Signed in 1987 by then US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the arms control agreement is now under threat, with Washington accusing Russia of violating the treaty.

Trump has promised to withdraw from the agreement, while President Vladimir Putin has threatened a new arms race, saying Europe would be its main victim.

Earlier this month, talks in Geneva between senior diplomats from both countries fell through as Washington and Moscow blamed each other for pushing the INF treaty to the brink of collapse.

Last week, Russia unveiled its missile system in a bid to reassure foreign officials that its weapons were in compliance with the arms control agreement.

But Washington has said the missile system should be destroyed in a verifiable manner if Moscow wants to keep the INF alive.

At Wednesday's conference in Beijing, deputy Russian foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov pointed to "the spread of unilateral attitudes" as a threat to nuclear non-proliferation.

"Many issues continue to be unsettled due to the lack of political will," he added, and said that there is an "evident lack of mutual trust" between the five NPT states.

"This (NPT) regime is being loosened, which is fraught with serious and negative impacts for nuclear non-proliferation," he said.


Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com


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NUKEWARS
Japanese Catholics urge Pope to send anti-nuclear message
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 27, 2019
Japanese Catholics on Sunday urged Pope Francis to send an anti-nuclear message from Hiroshima and Nagasaki when he travels to the country later this year. The Argentine pontiff said last Wednesday that he would visit Japan in November, becoming the first pope do so since John Paul II nearly 40 years ago. During his stay in the country, Francis reportedly plans to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to pray for the victims of the 1945 nuclear bombings, which killed some 220,000 people instantly. "I ... read more

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