Shanghai Workshop Press Release

30 November - 2 December 2001

Workshop in China Finds Missile Defense Harmful to Global and Regional Stability

Moving Beyond Missile Defense is a joint project of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation (INESAP) and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). From 30 November to 2 December 2001, the project joined with the Center for American Studies at Fudan University at Shanghai to hold its second international workshop in Shanghai, China.

For three days, more than 30 experts in the science, technology, military and security policy fields reviewed and assessed plans to develop and deploy missile defense programs. Experts from China, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the UK and the US provided perspectives on the technological and geopolitical problems as well as the negative impacts posed by missile defenses on regional and international security. Participants also offered alternatives to ballistic missile defense deployment.

The conclusions and recommendations from the Shanghai workshop will be utilized by an International Study Group to further explore alternatives to missile defenses and in future international regional meetings over the next three years. They will also be made available to government policy makers and non-governmental organizations working in the arena of global security.

The Shanghai Workshop reached the following conclusions:

Nuclear Disarmament and a Nuclear Weapons-Free World

• There is an urgent need for drastic reduction in nuclear weapons leading to their total elimination, in particular, the prompt elimination of tactical nuclear weapons and an end to reliance on nuclear weapons in military planning.

• All nuclear weapons states should declare a doctrine of No First-Use against other nuclear weapons states and commit themselves to No Use against non-nuclear weapons states.

• All nuclear weapons states should fulfill their nuclear disarmament obligations in accordance to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, including ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, preserving and strengthening the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and completing START III negotiations.

International Missile Control and Disarmament

• As an immediate step in stopping the development of ballistic missiles and to give time for negotiations, a ballistic missile flight test ban should be declared.

• Inasmuch as ballistic missiles produce instability and insecurity in critical regions of the world, it is essential to launch regional initiatives for missile control, including ballistic missile free zones.

• A missile race can only be prevented by initiating a process that establishes a universal norm against ballistic missilA?es in the context of creating a broader security framework.

Space Weapons Ban

• The weaponization of space is destabilizing and is not in the interest in humankind. The international community should proceed speedily to negotiate and conclude a treaty banning space weapons.

• There is an inherent link between ballistic missile defense and the weaponization of space. Therefore, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty must be preserved until something more comprehensive can replace it.

• As an immediate step, the international community should declare a moratorium on the development and testing of ballistic missile defense systems and space weapons.

Regional Security in North East Asia

• The introduction of ballistic missile defense systems into North East Asia will only exacerbate the threat posed by missile proliferation. We call upon all actors in the region to address common security concerns with cooperative measures.

• To reduce tension in North East Asia, the international community should reinvigorate the peace process on the Korean peninsula to promote reconciliation of the two Koreas.

• All regional actors should refrain from participating in the development and deployment of ballistic missile defense systems in North East Asia.