A Chinese envoy on Thursday urged the international community to uphold the authority of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The international community should "maintain and strengthen the authority, universality and effectiveness of the treaty," Ji Zhaoyu, counsel1or in charge of disarmament affairs of the Chinese mission to the UN Office at Geneva, told the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference on Nuclear Disarmament, held at the UN headquarters in New York.

The envoy stressed that the international security environment is undergoing "a complex array of profound changes," with existing international arms control and non-proliferation system "brought under severe strain."

"The world is confronted with a critical choice between unilateralism and multilateralism, confrontation and dialogue, isolation and openness, zero-sum game and win-win progress," he said.

"China believes that, under current circumstances, it is ever more important to underline the conducive role that the consistent nuclear disarmament progress could play in improving international security environment, and is more pertinent than ever for all countries to jointly champion multilateralism, oppose and discard cold war mentality," said the envoy.

He urged the international community to bear in mind the historical responsibility of "building a community of shared future for mankind" through consultation and joint efforts, promote the building of a new form of international relations characterized by mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation.

He also urged the world to take "fair and reasonable nuclear disarmament steps" of gradual reduction towards a downward balance, "diminish the role of nuclear weapons in national security doctrines," and abandon the policies of nuclear deterrence based on the first-use of nuclear weapons.

China remains committed to the path of peaceful development, adhering to a nuclear strategy of self-defense, and upholding an open, transparent and responsible nuclear policy, he said.

Since 1995, NPT review conferences have produced decisions, action plans, practical steps and measures to improve the effectiveness of the review process itself.

The NPT, signed in 1968 and effective since 1970, is the only treaty that contains legally-binding commitments to pursuing nuclear disarmament. A total of 191 states have joined the treaty. 

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