Research On The Measures Of Prohibiting And Eliminating Nuclear Weapons In The Treaty On The Prohibition Of Nuclear Weapons

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons(TPNW)was sponsored by UN and adopted on July 7,2017 in New York at the United Nations conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons,leading towards their total elimination,it was opened for signing on September 20,2017.The negotiation conference of the treaty started according to the December 2016 UN General Assembly Resolution 71/258.124 states around the world had participated in the conference and after 28 days of negotiation in two stages,the TPNW had gained a total 122 yes votes besides 1 no vote from Netherlands and 1 abstain vote from Singapore.However,over 40 states including all 9 nuclear-weapon states and most western countries refused to involve.The NATO member states had made it clear that they won't sign the treaty.Although the TPNW is very progressive as the first legally binding instrument in the world to fully prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons,the treaty was a product of hurried negotiation by non-nuclear-weapon states and has been boycotted by nuclear-weapon states and their allies which made its purpose of prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons difficult to achieve under the circumstances.By analyzing the content of the measures of prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons in the treaty and theoretical and practical problems of the measures,this paper tries to discuss how the international community and China should respond.The first chapter introduces the articles related to the measures of prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons in the TPNW.The preamble embodies the object and purpose of the treaty which is to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.To this end,the treaty included obligations such as Prohibitions,Declarations,National implementation,as well as procedural obligations such as Elimination of nuclear weapons and Verification,Meeting of States Parties,Settlement of disputes and Withdrawal.The second chapter analyzes the problems these measures may face in both theoretical and practical aspects.Articles of these measures in the TPNW have several defects,including lack of definition and explanation,content incompletion,lack of compliance mechanisms and feasibility.The implementation of these measures also faces practical problems.First of all,the measures in TPNW can not obligate nuclear-weapon states.The treaty was boycotted by nuclear-weapon states and their allies and can not obligate nuclear-weapon states according to the principle of relativity.Without the support of nuclear-weapon states,the TPNW is unable to constitute a customary international law that prohibits the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons which all together made the treaty's purpose of prohibiting and eliminating nuclear weapons difficult to achieve Besides,the measures in TPNW also cause impacts on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the nuclear disarmament negotiation mechanism constituted by the NPT Review Conference and the Conference on Disarmament.In response to the above problems,the third chapter suggests several feasible measures for the international community in order to achieve a non-nuclear goal.States should actively improve the international framework of nuclear disarmament by promoting the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the conclusion of the Treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices and the Middle East Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty.From the perspective of maintaining global security and stability and the demand of states' security,this paper proposed a three-step method:first not to use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear-weapon states,then no first use of nuclear weapons and finally the complete prohibition of nuclear weapons.Deepening nuclear disarmament should base on the principle of security and stability,and carry out under the framework of NPT Review Conference and the Conference on Disarmament.Building nuclear disarmament verification mechanism,lowering the role nuclear weapons and strengthening nuclear disarmament education are means for nuclear disarmament.The fourth chapter analyzes the positive and negative effects of measures in TPNW on China and proposes countermeasures.China's position of supporting the complete prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons is in line with the TPNW which means China can play an important role in bridging between nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear-weapon states.However,China have to bear great public pressure due to the refusal of the TPNW.The obligations taken by non-nuclear-weapon states under the TPNW may also affect China's interests.Therefore,China should maintain its constant peaceful nuclear positions and promote international negotiations and dialogues as well as international cooperations.Strive for more recognition of the intermediate steps China has advocated in order to ban nuclear weapons.Furthermore,China needs to emphasize the study on both international and domestic legal issues on nuclear weapons.