New website promotes Chinese dialogue on arms controls
22 February 2012
Saferworld and Tongji University’s School of Political Science and International Relations have launched a new website to stimulate dialogue and deepen understanding in China on the global proliferation of conventional arms.
The Resource Center on Conventional Weapons, which was launched at Tongji University in Shanghai on 16 February, is accessible in both Chinese and English. The site is a repository of news, links, information and analysis on a range of topics related to conventional arms proliferation.
The website also hosts a new biannual e-newsletter, the ATT Update. Co-published in Chinese and English by Saferworld and Tongji University, the ATT Update provides a forum – particularly for young Chinese academics – to report and analyse the progress of the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) initiative, which will be negotiated at the UN in July 2012. It also explores the broader issues surrounding the proliferation of conventional weapons. In the first edition Michael Liu explains that, “China is participating more actively in the UN negotiations towards an ATT, but there remains scepticism about the initiative, as well as misperceptions of its aims and how it would be implemented in practice.”
The launch event in Shanghai provided an opportunity for Bernardo Mariani, Saferworld’s China Programme Manager, to meet with Chinese scholars and military experts to discuss the ATT initiative, raise awareness of the on-going progress towards a treaty, and to exchange ideas on the future treaty’s content and implementation. Bernardo said, “The Resource Center and ATT Update newsletter are important tools in promoting informed dialogue on co-operation in conventional arms control. This is particularly timely in the lead up to UN negotiations for an ATT, which could ease the suffering caused by irresponsible transfers of conventional weapons and contribute to the common purpose of development, peace and security.”
Those who attended the event included: Maj Gen Xu Jia (the PLA Foreign Languages University); Dr Jean Marie Cishahayo (United Nations Institute for Training and Research); Prof Xia Liping (Dean, School of Political Science and International Relations, Tongji University); Prof Wang Dehua (Centre for South Asian Studies, School of Political Science and International Relations, Tongji University); Prof Shen Dingli (Dean, Institute of International Studies, Fudan University); Zou Xiaodong (Research Office of Shanghai Municipal Government); Raffaello Pantucci (Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences).
For more information, please contact: Bernardo Mariani, China Programme Manager
