World

U.S. Blasted For Nuke Vote

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

October 14, 1999 / 7:40 AM EDT / CBS

The SenateÂ's failure to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was roundly criticized by the worldÂ's nuclear powers Thursday. Many of WashingtonÂ's closest allies delivered a plea to reverse the 48-51 vote that kept the U.S. out of one of the worldÂ's most visible non-proliferation agreements.

Japan, the only country to have sustained a nuclear attack, said it deplored the SenateÂ's rejection and warned it would do Â"immeasurableÂ" damage to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation efforts.

Â"The negative impact it will have on global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation efforts is immeasurable and therefore is very regrettable,Â" Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said in a statement.

China also said Thursday that it Â"deeply regretsÂ" the Senate vote and pledged to speed up its own efforts to ratify the pact.

Diplomats said China's immediate concern was a nuclear arms race between neighbors India and Pakistan. Neither has signed the CTBT, and the Senate vote raised fears it would now become harder to persuade them to join.

North Korea's nuclear capabilities, and its potential to ignite an arms race in North Asia, was also troubling China, the diplomats said. Pyongyang also has not signed the pact.

At the same time, the diplomats said the Senate vote had handed China an opportunity to seize the moral high ground from the United States on an issue of global importance.

Nuclear-armed India said Thursday that it was striving to build a domestic consensus for signing the treaty despite the SenateÂ's rejection.

Â"As far as attempting to build the widest possible consensus is concerned, of course we are going to continue (to do that),Â" Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh told reporters.

Singh welcomed the Clinton administration's decision to continue a voluntary moratorium on tests, and said India would also adhere to its own self-imposed moratorium announced after its May 1998 series of nuclear tests.

India, which has fought three wars with neighboring Pakistan, says it needs a minimum credible nuclear deterrent.

But a nuclear analyst warned the pressure would be eased on Pakistan Â–- the worldÂ's newest nuclear power and the site of a lightning military coup only days ago.

Â"Â…if the United States would have ratified it there would have been strong moral pressure on Islamabad,Â" said Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, an analyst at the Islamabad-based Institute of Strategic Studies.

Meanwhile, even NATO's new secretary-general Lord Robertson said on Thursday that he was concerned about the American vote.

Â"I think it has a lot to do with the partisan nature of American politics at the moment and the sort of febrile atmosphere that comes with a presidential election on the horizon,Â" he told BBC radio.

Robertson said supporters of the treaty would not give up trying to persuade the Americans that it was in their interests to ratify it.

Â"We've got to persuade the American Congress that this is in the interest, not just of international security, but also of the United States,Â" he said.

The 44 nations, each possessing various degrees of nuclear capability, that must ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty for it to take effect are: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, North Korea, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United States and Vietnam.

The 26 nations among the 44 that have ratified the treaty are: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The 15 nations among the 44 that have signed but not yet ratified the treaty are: Algeria, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States and Vietnam.

The three nations among the 44 that have neither signed nor ratified the treaty: India, Pakistan and North Korea.