Statement by Mr. Hoang Chi Trung, Deputy Permanent
Representative of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
to the United Nations
at the
First Committee of the 62nd Session of the United
Nations General Assembly
New York,
October 10th 2007
Mr. Chairman,
Let me begin by congratulating you and
all the other members of the Bureau on your elections to the important posts of
the Bureau of the First Committee of the 62nd Session of the United
Nations General Assembly. I am sure that under your guidance, the committee will
arrive at a satisfactory outcome.
My delegation welcomes the appointment
of Ambassador Sergio Duarte as the United Nations Secretary-General’s High
Representative for Disarmament. We wish him success in his new and important
post.
First and foremost, the Vietnamese
delegation fully associates itself with the statement delivered on Monday by the
distinguished representative of Indonesia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement
as well as the statement presented yesterday by the distinguished representative
of Myanmar on behalf of ASEAN.
Mr. Chairman,
We all cherish peace and security.
Disarmament plays a crucial role in consolidating world peace and security.
Total and complete disarmament, therefore, has been the objective of the United
Nations since its birth. Yet, our world today is still facing local wars and
conflicts, terrorism and arms race, nuclear arms race in particular. Weapons of
mass destruction and the development of their delivery systems continue to be of
serious concerns to the world community. This is even more worrisome when we
face the danger of these weapons falling into the hands of the terrorists.
It is also
frustrating that little progress has been achieved in the field of disarmament
in recent years. All this demands that the members of the United Nations
redouble their efforts for the cause of disarmament.
In this connection, we wish to reaffirm our strong commitment to work harder
with other member states towards the noble cause of total and complete disarmament,
the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction in particular.
My country shares the view that the
major challenge we face today is the need to strengthen the norms and
regulations in the area of disarmament. Viet Nam has consistently supported all
initiatives and efforts aimed at consolidating the instruments of arms control
and disarmament..
In this connection, we would like
to underline the importance of the conclusion made by the International Court of
Justice in its Advisory Opinion on the Legality of Threat of Use of Nuclear
Weapons issued on 8 July 1996 that there exists an obligation to pursue in good
faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in
all its aspects under strict and effective international control.
Mr. Chairman, the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is clearly the backbone of the global
non-proliferation regime. Undoubtedly, all states parties to the treaty must
comply fully with the Treaty’s obligations. We urge the Nuclear-Weapons States
to undertake to implement the 13 practical steps contained in the Final Document
of the 2000 Review Conference. We are also convinced that pending the total
elimination of nuclear weapons, efforts to conclude a universal, unconditional
and legally binding instrument on security assurances to
non-nuclear-weapons-states should be pursued as a matter of high priority. A new
cycle of the review process has begun and it is our hope that the NPT state
parties will make further concerted efforts to make it a meaningful exercise.
My country highly appreciates the
role played by the International Atomic Energy Agency and its safeguards system
in consolidating and enhancing the verification system for the regime of
non-proliferation. Assistance to non-nuclear-weapons states in peaceful uses of
nuclear energy constitutes an important obligation under the NPT. Furthermore,
we wish to stress that the NPT has confirmed the right of countries to access,
without discrimination, to the research, production and use of nuclear energy
for peaceful purposes.
Based on our consistent policy of
striving for peace, opposing the arms race and preventing the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, Viet Nam signed the
Additional Protocol to the Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic
Energy Agency on 10 August
2007, and became the 114th state party to this important international
instrument.
One of the few achievements we have
recorded relating to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation is the adoption
of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996. The
Treaty promotes both nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation and
constitutes an important instrument to preserve world peace and security. It is,
however, very disappointing that more than a decade has elapsed and this
important treaty has not managed to enter into force.
We support
the efforts of the international community to make this happen at an early date.
Viet Nam strongly supports the
convening of the Fourth United Nations Special Session Devoted to Disarmament (SSOD
IV). We share the sentiments of various delegations at the lack of consensus in
the open-ended working group set up by the General Assembly to consider the
objectives and agenda, including the possibility of establishing a preparatory
committee for SSOD IV. We call upon the General Assembly to reconvene the
working group to find practical ways to hold the Special Session as soon as
possible.
Mr. Chairman,
The establishment of
nuclear-weapons free zones in various regions of the world not only make
significant contributions towards consolidating regional and international
security, but also strengthen the NPT regime and the process of total nuclear
disarmament. We are happy to note that more and more countries render their
support to this endeavor. It is our hope that the concerned countries will make
efforts to implement the resolution adopted by the 1995 Review Conference so
that the Middle East will become a zone free of nuclear-weapons as well.
At the regional level, Viet Nam is
working closely with other ASEAN countries to ensure that South East Asia a
region free from nuclear weapons. It is our view that the participation of all
nuclear-weapons states through their acceding to the Protocol of this Treaty
would be essential in further strengthening the confidence-building measures
between the nuclear-weapon states and the South East Asian countries. By doing
so, the Nuclear-Weapons States could further demonstrate their commitments to
the NPT process, enhancing negative security assurances to the countries in the
region. Viet Nam once again welcomes the announcement made by China of its
readiness to accede to the Protocol annexed to the Treaty and calls upon other
Nuclear-Weapons States to do likewise. At this session of the committee, the
SEANWFZ countries will launch an effort to this effect and we hope to enjoy the
full support of all the member countries.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Print version