China to join Arms Trade Treaty

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China will accede to the Arms Trade Treaty, adopted in 2013 by the UN. A decision that will strengthen peace in the world, assured Beijing on Monday June 22. 

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The accession to this treaty approved on Saturday June 20 by the main Chinese legislative body is a particularly political decision. While the Chinese Communist Party is criticized from all sides for its management of the coronavirus crisis, Beijing now wants at all costs to restore its coat of arms on the international scene, and all the more since the country is now singled out for its economic hegemony.

Joining the Arms Trade Treaty therefore lends itself well to a policy of detente. The agreement stipulates that each signatory country must assess before any transaction whether the arms sold are likely to be used to circumvent an international embargo, to be diverted for the benefit of criminal organizations or to violate human rights.

China, which in recent years has become the second largest arms manufacturer on the planet , assures that its engagement is good for world peace and stability. For Beijing, it is also a way of erasing the image of aggressive diplomacy, by recalling that the United States, its main rival and the world's largest arms manufacturer, have never signed this treaty .

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