Essence of the Nuclear Security Summit
- By Jia Jinjing
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 29, 2014
Chinese President Xi Jinping during his Europe visit attended the third Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in The Hague on March 24 and 25.
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Joining hands [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn] |
What is the aim of the NSS? According to its official statement, the aims of the summit are to improve the security of existing nuclear material and prevent nuclear terrorism worldwide. The previous two summits did indeed serve these purposes. The question remains: If the security of nuclear weapons, material and facilities mainly depends on strict management, is it necessary to gather the world's leaders and hold a consultation?
The first Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington. The results of the summit were written down in the Washington Work Plan, which called on the international community to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years. In 2012, the second summit was held in Seoul. The concrete results of the summit were presented in the Seoul Communiqué, the main content of which covers nuclear terrorism prevention, a reduction in the use of Plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) and nuclear material safety management. It is not difficult to see that the outcomes of the previous two summits are much sketchier than the nuclear safety management system of any country. Does that mean that the aim of the NSS is to have world leaders sit down together to invent a mechanism that will reduce the safety level of the current nuclear management system?
U.S. President Obama on April 5, 2009, delivered a speech in Prague, in which he called nuclear terrorism one of the "greatest threats to international security." Obama promised in his speech to hold a nuclear security summit hosted by the United States. In fact, each NSS was convened with a specific background. The 2010 Summit was convened because a nuclear crisis was triggered when Iran in February of that year announced the completion of a new generation of centrifuges; the 2012 Summit was mainly related to the North Korean nuclear issue.
And what about this year's edition? Is there any specific context for this year's Summit? No. The official statement seems a little bit far-fetched. They say that although there is no credible evidence that any terrorist or terrorist group has ever succeeded in obtaining the nuclear material and means required to produce a nuclear weapon, it does not mean people can simply abandon caution.
In fact, the NSS has an aim that is known to all -- it is a game that determines the development rights of mankind.
