Research On International Legal Obligations In Nuclear Disarmament

Obligations in international law are often given through treaties and international customs,which are intended to restrict certain acts of the states in order to create a more reasonable and orderly international environment.Since its birth,nuclear disarmament obligations have a special historical background and political purpose.Due to its huge destructive power,nuclear weapons have brought miserable disasters to human beings in the history.The call for "anti-nuclear" in the world has soared,and the original nuclear disarmament treaty was finally born in cold war.In 1968,the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was adopted at the UN General Assembly in June as the cornerstone of nuclear arms control.With the end of the two world wars and the end of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union,the reduction of the number of nuclear weapons alone cannot meet the actual needs.The development of nuclear disarmament obligations in the new era should also include the prevention of nuclear proliferation and the establishment of nuclear-free zones etc.From the perspective of national practice,the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons has its insurmountable limitations,and to a certain extent,the obligations of nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states are not commensurate.From a practical point of view,it is often difficult for a country to fulfill its nuclear disarmament obligations being effectively monitored under theexisting verification mechanisms.From the perspective of the implementation effect,even if a state is found to have violated its nuclear disarmament obligations,it is difficult to be punished directly by the verifying subject.In addition,the unauthorized withdrawal of nuclear disarmament treaties also has a huge impact on the ancient principle of international law “Pacta Sunt Servanda”,making "withdrawal" a "shield" for some countries to evade their international obligations.In fact,the limitations of nuclear disarmament treaties reflect the fierce competition of international games,as nuclear weapons are related to a country's “live or die” and symbolize the nation's military power,which often lead to compromises on both sides.And because the international and domestic social organizations are fundamentally different in structure,there is essentially no "super-national institution" that can make a "decisive decision" on related matters,which the resolution of related issues often falls into a dilemma.From the perspective of the Security Council's function of “maintaining world peace and security”,the Security Council is currently the only international organization that can take “substantive” measures,including the improvement of "verification measures" and a series of “sanctions” against countries that have violated nuclear disarmament obligations.The Security Council has shown its great practical ability,despite the validity and legality of the sanctions resolutions still has room for discussion.Judging from the basic attributes of rights and obligations,a country's violation of international obligations naturally results in the state responsibility.In the field of nuclear disarmament,as it has the special attributes of “Obligation erga omnes” and“joint responsibility”,it also poses certain challenges for the corresponding“victimized country” identification and “invocation” of national responsibility.By viewing the international practices,there have been cases where the International Court of Justice determined that the “disputes” did not exist and the corresponding states were “nowhere to complain”.From China's standpoint,it is indeed necessary to effectively fulfill the nuclear disarmament obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation regime.At the same time,we should also actively participate ininternational nuclear arms control negotiations and express "Chinese voice",preparing for possible future disputes.