At the joint invitation of American Studies Center, Peking University and Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding,Peking University (iGCU) on the morning of September 9, 2015, Frank A. Rose, US Assistant Secretary of State for arms control, visited the School of International Studies, Peking University, and held a symposium with students and teachers. Associate Professor Fan Shiming, Vice Dean of the School of International Studies of Peking University and Secretary-General of American Studies Center, Peking University, Professor Ding Dou, US Embassy Staff and several doctoral students from School of International Studies, Peking University and Tsinghua University attended the symposium.The symposium was presided over by Associate Professor Wang Dong.
Rose briefed his responsibilities, such as, strategic dialogues between the United States and Japan or South Korea, space security and traditional arms control. Then, Associate Professor Fan Shiming asked how you comment on China' s increasing military strength. Rose replied: Compared with the nuclear relations between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Soviet times, the greatest confusion for the United States on China' s nuclear forces stems from the lack of detailed information.He unintentionally drew an analogy between China and the Soviet Union, but acknowledged that today' s China-US relations are different from the US-Soviet relations. However, the United States and Warsaw have clear arrangements and firm discussion mechanism on the nuclear issue, while China and the US has never talked about the nuclear issue profoundly in the high-level dialogues between China and the United States on the nuclear issue.In addition, Rose stressed that the United States and China are moving forward to deep dialogues that can solve problems, but it is a very slow process.He believed that transparency is important for achieving strategic stability.
Professor Ding Dou argued that there is a paradox that arms control in the real world is accompanied by the development of nuclear weapons technology. Therefore, Rose held that No amount of disarmament can reduce it to zero. He agreed that dialogues could not solve all problems, because major powers believe that nuclear weapons are critical to their security, and that transparency in arms control can make disarmament more stable. What' s more, he pointed out that during the cold war, the United States and the Soviet Union had a common understanding of what was acceptable, while there is no such understanding between the United States and China.
Based on the current status of negotiations on the nuclear issue of Iran, Associate Professor Wang Dong exchanged views with Rose on the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and strategic stability. Rose said that the United States might not directly accept the mutual vulnerability of nuclear weapons in the official document due to political reasons, but other policy statements suggest that the United States accepts the mutual vulnerability of nuclear weapons between China and the United States. The United States has also repeatedly stated publicly that it will not seek for strategic deterrent capabilities to weaken China. Rose argued that some countries will not give up nuclear weapons as long as they think they need them for strategic security. Therefore, it is difficult to denuclearize on the Korean Peninsula, but such difficulty should not lead to the recognition of its nuclear weaponization.
After the symposium, Rose said that his first visit to Peking University benefited him a lot, and he wishes to have more communications with students and teachers of Peking University in the future.
Note: Rose took the position in December 2014.From 2009 to 2014, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for space and defense policy, where he was responsible for key issues related to arms control and defense policy including missile defense, space security, chemical and biological weapons, and conventional arms control.
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