CND's Press Round-Up - 19th March 2021

Posted: 19th March 2021

Dear all,

Please find today’s press round up below. A continued thanks to all those who have helped during a busy past few days.

Nuclear Weapons

British Warhead Increase
 
Negative international reactions to the British government’s decision to increase the number of nuclear warheads continued, with the Russian Foreign Ministry saying that the move ran counter to the UK’s obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, according to the Russian state media agency TASS.Furthermore, the Ministry said that, in the future, the nuclear arsenals of France and the UK (as U.S. allies) will need to be taken into account  in future bilateral arms reduction talks between the two countries. A note of circumspection was also struck, however, with the spokesperson saying any talks between the U.S. and Russia should have the ‘aim to strengthen international security and strategic stability’.
 
North Korea
 
The U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken has said that China has to use its ‘tremendous influence’ to achieve the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, ahead of his first meeting with top ranking Chinese officials in Alaska, the Guardian reports. North Korea had previously said that it will not respond to the overtures of the Biden administration whilst the latter continues its ‘hostile stance’.
This came as the Secretary of State reiterated rhetoric that ‘everything is on the table’ during a visit to South Korea. At the same press conference, the South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Edifying said he thought the agreement reached in Singapore between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in 2018 provided a foundation of basic principles, upon which progress could be made. He also told press that there had been no discussion of South Korea joining the ‘Quad’ of Japan, India, the U.S. and Australia, which some have seen as initiative designed to contain China.
 

Anti-War
 
Chinese Hypersonic Missile Development
 
China is conducting research on how to network its hypersonic missiles in such a way as to allow them to ‘smart swarm’, according to a piece in Forbesmagazine. Hypersonic missiles, which could be repurposed to carry nuclear payloads, have slower speeds but low flight altitudes than conventional ballistic missiles.  A recently published study from the Beijing Institute of Technology outlines how the missiles might be fitted with sensors and communications devices to increase their destructive potential.
 
 
U.S. Missiles
The newest generation of Tomahawk missile is due to be delivered from the defence contractor Raytheon to the U.S. Navy this week, according to the DefenseNews website. The new weapon is expected, following testing, to have the ability to hit surface ships at sea, at ranges of up to 1,000 miles. The Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank is quoted as saying that the new missile’s capabilities are ‘especially important in the Asia-Pacific region’ to counter-act China’s DF-26 and DF-21 missile systems.

 
Iranian Missile Capacity
 
The Iranian Minister of Defence Amir Hatami has given a speech before senior government officials in Tehran in which he pledged that the missile capacities of the Islamic Republic would be strengthened in the coming year, according to RT. On Monday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards revealed a “missile city”, featuring ballistic and cruise missiles.


With best wishes,

Michael Muir

Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament