Socialist Republic of Vietnam

New York, Apr. 10 (VNA) -- The Government of Viet Nam persistently supports the establishment of nuclear weapon-free zones, Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Chau, Head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, has said.

Ambassador Chau was addressing the first session of the preparatory committee for the 2005 Conference of the State Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York on Apr. 9.

He further said that the formation of such zones is considered to have a significant role toward achieving regional as well as global peace and security. In this spirit, Viet Nam acceded in 1995 to the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ) which has entered into force since 1997.

He went on to say: "It is our opinion that this PrepCom session is again very important as it provides an opportunity for each member state to review how far it has carried out the agreements reached in 1995 and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in the year 2000, and makes recommendations in preparation for the NPT Review Conference in the year 2005."

"The last two years have witnessed a number of events that adversely affected the goals set forth at the 2000 Review Conference," the Vietnamese representative noted.

He said: "The horrendous terrorist attacks on September 11 gave rise to greater concerns about possible acquisition by the terrorist groups of weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, the instances of using or threatening to use force at variance with international law have pushed tensions to the flare-ups of bloody conflicts in a number of regions. The decision to abrogate the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) went against the principle of irreversibility of nuclear disarmament agreements, leaving disarmament in a vacuum and could potentially lead to a renewed arms race not only on earth but also in outer space. Then the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) by a Nuclear-Weapon-State grossly deviates from the security assurances under the NPT, thus threatening not only those countries tentatively listed, but endangering other countries as well."

"The NPT is the milestone on the path to total nuclear disarmament. All States Parties to the Treaty, especially the five Nuclear States must reaffirm their unequivocal commitments and fulfill their obligations under the said Treaty. It is regrettable, however, that little progress has been made in nuclear disarmament over the last years, and many provisions of the Final Document have not been met, " Ambassador Chau noted.
He called on all States Parties to the treaty to find out the effective measures to prevent the nuclear proliferation and to promote disarmament.

"The Nuclear Weapon States should strictly undertake their responsibilities to stop the improvement, development, production and stockpiling of nuclear warheads and their delivery system, and as an interim measure, to de-alert and de-activate them and gradually reduce them. They must also guarantee not to transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, or in any way assist and/or encourage any nuclear weapon states to manufacture nuclear weapons as well as nuclear explosive devices.

Along this line, my delegation believes that the IAEA with its safeguard monitoring system will play an indispensable role in the implementation of the Treaty," the Vietnamese representative said in conclusion.--VNA