Chinese president's speech on nuclear issues shows wise perspective

The position expressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the third Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in The Hague revealed a wise and reasonable perspective on such delicate issues, an Italian analyst said on Wednesday.

"It seemed to me he showed a moderate position without forgetting the specific demands of emerging and newly industrialized countries, which are in need of both granting nuclear security and developing more nuclear energy for their own growth," Massimo Zaurrini, editor-in-chief with foreign affairs website Atlasweb, told Xinhua.

The analyst referred specifically to Xi's saying that China places "equal emphasis" on development and security in the nuclear matter.

Commenting on Xi's speech on Monday, Zaurrini said the Chinese approach appeared well balanced.

The Chinese leader warned against developing nuclear energy at the expenses of security, because it would "neither be sustainable nor bring real development".

Yet, Xi also believed that rights and obligations should be given same attention, adding that rights and interests ought to be recognized with international nuclear security process being pushed forward.

"This view takes into consideration that many countries look at nuclear energy as a reliable and economic source, in order to feed their recent fast-pace development," the analyst said.

The analyst also stressed the summit in the Hague saw a general consensus of all countries, China included, over the primary role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a neutral entity to which to refer for settling global and sensitive issues on the matter.

As the analyst noted, Xi gave much space in his speech to the issue of domestic security. The Chinese president explained that China has tightened nuclear security measures and improved technology and emergency response, with comprehensive security checks on nuclear facilities across the country.

"Xi remarked that China has maintained a good record of nuclear security with no relevant breaches over the past 50 years. I did not know that, and I was quite impressed," the expert said.

Zaurrini devoted a final remark to the meeting between Xi and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the NSS in The Hague.

"There was visibly a relaxed atmosphere in their talks ... I would take it as a very positive sign, especially considering the two countries have a divergence of interests on a series of relevant issues," he concluded.