After US intervenes, China lowers tone against India's NSG bid

China today cleared the air on the ongoing issue of India's NSG bid. Explaining why it has been opposing India’s NSG membership bid, for the first time China said that the door is open for discussions on the issue but took a swipe at the US for backing India, saying it was one of those who made the rule against the entry of non-NPT countries into NSG.

Chinese Foreign Ministry, however, asked the 48-member NSG to “stay focussed” on whether the criteria should be changed on entry of non-NPT countries into the elite group.

“I have not seen the US statement supporting India. But US is one of those who made the rule that non-NPT countries should not join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing.

“The relevant rule was made on the principle that NPT was the cornerstone of the NSG,” she said. Hua made the remarks in response to a question on US asking members of the nuclear trading club to support India’s application.

Later talking to Indian media, Hua said while discussions are going on among the NSG members, the admission of new members is not listed in the current plenary meeting in Seoul.

“The door is open. The room is there. We never said we are against who (a country). We did not target any country, India or Pakistan,” Hua said.

China for its part cares about non-proliferation treaty (NPT) as criteria for admission of the new members into the NSG, she said. “This is the core of the international non-proliferation.  If the non-proliferation regime is changed how can we explain the Iranian nuclear treaty,” Hua argued.

“We just had a treaty with Iran. We have North Korean issues there...So this concerns the core issue whether NPT and non proliferation system could be impacted by this,” she said.

Reiterating what she said yesterday, Hua stated that, “According to my understanding, it (entry of new members) is not on the agenda of the NSG meeting in Seoul.”

“The door is open for the admission of the non-NPT members. It is never closed. It is open. But the members of the NSG should stay focussed on whether the criteria should be changed and whether non-NPT members should be admitted into the NSG,” she said.

On US’ backing for India’s NSG bid, Hua said, “We care about rules. US just sets the rules. This is not an issue between China and India but (about) the pillar for non-proliferation system,” she said.