Beijing to sign Asean nuclear arms treaty
China yesterday announced that it would sign a treaty establishing a "nuclear weapons free" zone in south-east Asia, a largely symbolic move that signals its increasing willingness to forge closer ties with regional nations.
Wen Jiabao, China's premier, made the announcement in Nanning, southern China, where he is meeting the leaders of the 10-strong Association of Southeast Asian Nations in a summit to mark 15 years of relations with its member nations.
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Beijing has signalled for the past year that it would accede to the protocol of the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, which came into force in 1997.
The treaty bans the development and possession of nuclear weapons among Asean member nations and requires each state to declare whether nuclear-powered ships or aircraft are visiting or passing through their territory.
China itself has a small number of nuclear-powered submarines but they are not required to obtain permission to visit the ports of any neighbouring Asian countries.
China operates no such ban in its territory: it has allowed, for example, visits by nuclear-powered and armed US aircraft into Hong Kong.
The announcement by Mr Wen is nonetheless consistent with Beijing's efforts in recent years to accommodate its smaller Asian neighbours, many of which have long had tense relations with China.
Closer ties with the Asean also dovetail with Beijing's core policies of ensuring -stability in the region to allow its economy to prosper, while retaining access to the area's substantial raw materials.
"Looking back, we are glad to see that relations have come a long way from the removal of misgivings, to the start of dialogue and mutual trust and to the final establishment of strategic partnership," he said.
Mr Wen also urged China and the Asean to "expand military dialogue and exchanges, [to] conduct and institutionalise defence co-operation", and also to co-operate on cross-border issues, such as terrorism.
On trade, the Chinese premier called for an acceleration of the negotiations towards the agreement in trade in services and investment needed for the establishment of a China-Asean trade zone by the target date of 2010.
The trade agreement, a Chinese initiative covering 1.7bn people and 11 diverse economies, is the most ambitious of many such agreements being negotiated by Beijing.
China and the Asean nations have made significant progress in eliminating tariffs on trade in goods but little in the more difficult areas of services and investment.
There remains a hint of discord over Burma, with the Asean continuing to press China to use its influence in that country to force political reform.
Syed Hamid Albar, Malaysia's foreign minister, said the Asean would "be happy" if Beijing could use its influence to extract concessions from the military junta that rules the country.
Meanwhile, on the gatherings' sidelines, General Surayud Chulanont, Thailand's military-installed prime minister, told Lee Hsein Loong, his Singaporean counterpart, that Thai courts would judge the legality of the takeover of Thailand's largest telecommunications company by Temasek, the Singapore government's investment arm.
中国将签署东南亚无核武条约
中国政府昨日宣布，它将签署一项在东南亚建立“无核武器区”的条约。此举在很大程度上属于象征性举动，表明中国与地区邻国建立更紧密联系的意愿不断增强。
中国总理温家宝在中国南方城市南宁发表了上述声明。目前，中国正在南宁举行中国-东盟(ASEAN)建立对话关系15周年纪念峰会，温家宝和东盟10国领导人共同出席了此次会议。
北京在过去一年已经发出信号，表示它将签署《东南亚无核武器区条约》(Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone)。该条约已于1997年生效。
该条约禁止东盟成员国研制并拥有核武器，并要求每个成员国声明，是否有核动力船舶或飞行器访问或经过它们的领土。
中国拥有少量核动力潜艇，但它们无须获得许可，即可访问任何亚洲邻国的港口。
中国在其领土范围内也不实行这种限制：例如，它曾数次允许装备核武器的美国核动力舰艇访问香港。
不过，温家宝的声明符合中国政府近年来安抚其亚洲邻国的努力。长期以来，许多亚洲国家与中国的关系处于紧张状态。
与东盟建立更紧密联系，也符合中国政府的核心政策，即：确保该地区的稳定，以便中国经济繁荣发展，同时继续获取该地区丰富的原材料。
在贸易方面，温家宝呼吁加快谈判步伐，尽早签署服务贸易和投资协定，为在2010年的目标时间之前建立中国－东盟贸易区创造条件。
该贸易协定由中国发起，覆盖17亿人口和11个各不相同的经济体，是中国政府正在磋商的众多贸易协定中，目标最宏大的一个。
但在缅甸问题上，中国与东盟仍有分歧。东盟继续敦促中国利用其对缅甸的影响力，推动该国进行政治改革。
