China's biological warfare ploy using marine toxins perturbs US
- In Reports
- 08:34 PM, Apr 25, 2024
- Myind Staff
The latest arms control compliance report from the US State Department has raised concerns about China's military activities, particularly its research on marine toxins. This development has prompted suspicions of potential violations of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), an international treaty aimed at eradicating biological weapons.
Despite China ratifying the BWC in 1984, ongoing research activities suggest a covert effort towards developing toxins for military purposes. The State Department report explicitly mentions China's engagement in 'biological activities with potential biological weapons applications,' with a focus on the development of toxins, particularly sea-based neurotoxins known for their lethal properties targeting the central nervous system.
According to a report by the Washington Times, this concern is intensified by China's track record of biological weapons programs, which have included agents such as ricin and anthrax. The recent emphasis on marine toxins signifies a novel strategic trajectory in Beijing's weapons research.
US intelligence agencies suspect that China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) may be adapting civilian research, ostensibly focused on preventing marine toxin poisoning from seafood, for military weapons development. The report references a 2014 Chinese government-sponsored study that discusses the potential utilisation of anatoxins, saxitoxins, and tetrodotoxin as biological weapons.
Despite these revelations, China has purportedly not furnished comprehensive information about its past or ongoing biological weapons programs to other signatories of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), thus contravening the convention's stipulations.
Former arms control official Thomas DiNanno has criticised the current US administration for what he perceives as a reluctance to address what he deems a significant escalation in bioweapons development by China. Meanwhile, Ryan Clarke from the National University of Singapore interprets this disclosure as indicative of the Chinese Communist Party's endeavours to incorporate bioweapons into its conventional military capabilities.
The matter is anticipated to be addressed at an upcoming Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) working group meeting in Geneva. In the interim, the United States persists in pressing China on these concerns across various international forums, with the objective of generating diplomatic pressure for transparency and adherence to international norms.
Image Source: Times Of India
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