Jakarta. China has given ASEAN its word on inking the protocol on an anti-nuke pact that could help preserve the Southeast Asian region as a nuclear-weapon-free zone, according to Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir. 

ASEAN has been nudging the five recognized nuclear weapon states -- including China -- to accede to what it calls the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) treaty. China’s signature to the SEANWFZ would mean that the country promises to never use its nukes against ASEAN nations.

On the sidelines of an ASEAN ministerial-level meeting in Jakarta, Kadir said China was committed to signing the SEANWFZ treaty protocol. If Beijing keeps its word, this would make China the first nuclear weapon state to accede to the treaty.

“China has committed to agreeing [to the SEANWFZ protocols] unconditionally. That is the commitment that they have given us,” Kadir told reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference (PMC) in Jakarta on Thursday.

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ASEAN members in 1995 inked the SEANWFZ treaty as a commitment to keep the region nuke-free. The treaty includes a protocol that can provide for legally binding security assurances from the nuclear weapon states not to use or threaten to use nukes against the countries that have acceded to the pact. 

The protocol is open for signature by the UK, the US, China, Russia, and France: the five nuclear weapon states recognized by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), another international pact aimed to prevent the spread of nukes.

According to Retno, Indonesia has also tried to get the other nuclear states to accede to the SEANWFZ protocol. 

“At our PMC with Russia, Indonesia asked for Russia's support to preserve the Southeast Asian region as a nuclear-free zone by acceding to the SEANWFZ protocol treaty,” Retno told reporters on Thursday evening, commenting on ASEAN's meeting with Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov.

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