China called on the United States to show “sincerity” in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue while sounding a warning about Japan’s discussion of possessing nuclear weapons in a recent official report.
The assessments appeared in China’s latest National Report on the Implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released on Monday.
The document outlines Beijing’s progress in nuclear disarmament and its long-standing nuclear policies, including no first use, while blaming the US for causing the current impasse over Iran’s nuclear issue as well as rebuking its military actions against Tehran.
According to the report, the military attacks by the US and Israel in both June last year and February this year “seriously violated international law and the purposes of the UN Charter”.
It singled out America’s 2018 withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal – as the “root cause” of the current tensions surrounding the Iranian nuclear issue.
That landmark strategic agreement was reached in 2015 between Iran and Britain, China, the European Union, France, Russia and the US, during the Barack Obama administration. The Donald Trump administration unilaterally withdrew the US from the deal.
“China calls for an immediate cessation of military action,” the report stated. “The parties concerned should demonstrate political sincerity, exert greater diplomatic efforts and push the Iranian nuclear issue back onto the correct track of dialogue and negotiation.”
The report’s issuance came almost two months after the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28, a military campaign whose stated purpose is to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear weapon.
Earlier this month, talks in Pakistan between the US and Iran ended without a peace deal.
Afterward, US Vice-President J.D. Vance said the US had not seen a “fundamental commitment” from the Iranians to refrain from developing a nuclear weapon over the long term.
Monday’s report was submitted to the 11th Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT, a major diplomatic summit scheduled to take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York from April 27 to May 22.
The last time China issued and submitted a report to the NPT review committee was in 2021.
Its release precedes Trump’s planned May visit to China, where the nuclear issue could be among the discussion topics.
In the report, Beijing reiterated its refusal to join trilateral arms control talks with Washington and Moscow.
Dismissing such proposals as “unfair, unreasonable and unfeasible,” it said China’s arsenal remained far smaller than those of the two nuclear superpowers.
“The countries possessing the largest nuclear arsenals should … further significantly and substantially reduce their nuclear arsenals,” according to the report.
The US has been trying to bring China into the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the world’s last remaining binding nuclear arms control agreement, which was signed by Washington and Moscow and expired in February.
The report also highlighted China’s “extreme restraint” in the scale and development of its nuclear weapons, stating it had conducted the fewest nuclear tests of any nuclear-armed power.
That stands in contrast with Trump’s statements last year suggesting the US could restart nuclear testing.
On the issue of transparency, Beijing cited as evidence of its responsible conduct its September 2024 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, for which it said it proactively notified countries including the US and Russia.
The report marks the first time Beijing has named the countries it notified for that test.
Meanwhile, it slammed America’s “Golden Dome” missile defence system announced last year, accusing it of “seriously undermining global strategic stability”. The system is intended to protect the entire US from a wide range of aerial threats, including missiles.
The report also said comments by Japanese officials, including one asserting “Japan should possess nuclear weapons”, reflected a “dangerous” trend in the country.
“These remarks pose a serious threat to regional and global peace and stability,” it added.
“China and all peace-loving countries worldwide should be highly vigilant and resolutely oppose Japan’s dangerous tendencies on the nuclear weapons issue and strongly urge Japan to abide by its obligations under international law and cease its provocative probes on the issue of nuclear weapons.”