On October 9, the First Committee of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly held its general debate. Ambassador Geng Shuang, Deputy Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, exercised the right of reply to the accusations leveled by the US representative on China. The full text of Ambassador Geng's statement is as follows:

Just now, the US representative spread political virus in the UN and smeared China on COVID-19, which is totally unacceptable. I must point out that shrugging off responsibility can not cover the mistakes the US made in combating the pandemic, and can not fool the international community.

China categorically rejects the baseless accusations leveled by the US representative against China's arms control policy. China opposes arms race, upholds multilateralism, implements its obligations under relevant arms control treaties and agreements and supports dialogue and cooperation in the security area. China's positive contribution to international security and disarmament is widely recognized. I will comprehensively elaborate on China's position at the general debate on October 12.

In exercising China's right of reply, I have just one message: the US is the gravest threat to global strategic security and stability.

Why? Here are 10 basic facts.

First, the US is obsessed with military build-up. The US ranks first in military expenditure. It spent more than 700 billion dollars on military in 2019, nearly 40% of the world's total, and more than the next 10 countries combined.

Second, the US is returning to cold war mentality. In its National Security Strategy Report and Nuclear Posture Review Report, the US blatantly defined China and Russia as strategic competitors, hyping up external threats, and stirring up confrontation among major countries.

Third, the US is pursuing unilateralism. It withdrew from the INF Treaty and the JCPOA, unsigned the ATT, and adopted a negative attitude towards the extension of the New START Treaty, exposing its pure pragmatism on bilateral and multilateral arms control treaties and regimes.

Fourth, the US is seeking to free its hands. The US has been upgrading its nuclear arsenals, and lowering the threshold for nuclear weapons use. It has dodged its special responsibility for nuclear disarmament with the pretext of so-called trilateral negotiations, and even had discussions on resuming nuclear test.

Fifth, the US is pushing political maneuvering. The US follows double standards on nuclear non-proliferation, abuses unilateral sanctions, and serves its geopolitical agenda by using the hot-spot issues such as the Iranian nuclear issue and the Korean nuclear issue.

Sixth, the US is breaking strategic balance. The US has deployed missile defense systems in the Asia-Pacific and Central and Eastern Europe, and is planning to deploy land-based medium range missiles in the Asia-Pacific and Europe. The purpose is to enhance military presence and seek absolute dominance.

Seventh, the US is impeding biological arms control. The US is the only country blocking the relaunch of negotiations for a protocol that includes a verification regime to strengthen the BWC, and obstructing international efforts to verify biological activities. The US is now a stumbling block for multilateral biological arms control.

Eighth, the US is delaying the destruction of chemical weapons. As the only CWC State Party still in possession of chemical weapons, the US has extended the deadline for the destruction of chemical weapons for several times, and failed to fulfill its obligations under the Convention. The US has become the biggest obstacle to a world free of chemical weapons.

Ninth, the US is relaunching its star wars program. The US has created the Space Force, reestablished the Space Command, and sped up weapon tests and military drills in outer space. These acts threaten outer space security, and seriously contradict peaceful use of outer space.

Tenth, the US is building an empire of hacking. The US is engaged in massive cyber attacks and surveillance worldwide through programs such as PRISM, and developing its cyber warfare capacity in an attempt to dominate cyberspace.

The ten facts above are merely a glimpse of the US wrongdoings in the field of international security and disarmament. If time permits, I can give more examples. The international community sees the US wrongdoings very clearly.

Mr. Chair,

Multilateral arms control and disarmament concerns international peace and security, and well-being of all countries. UN member states, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, have the responsibility and obligation to participate in the process on an equal footing. Unilateralism, exceptionalism, and bullying practices will get nowhere.

As the strongest military power with the most advanced weapons in the world, the US has a special and primary responsibility in arms control and disarmament. "America First" should be converted to Compliance First, Dismantlement First and Disarmament First.

We hope the US will participate in the work of the First Committee in an open, responsible and constructive manner, and work with other countries to ensure the success of the Committee's work, promote international arms control and disarmament process, and safeguard global strategic security and stability.

The Disarmament and International Security Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (First Committee) deals with international security affairs such as arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation. In the First Committee sessions, member states will engage in the general debate and thematic discussions on nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction, conventional weapons, other disarmament measures and international security, outer space, etc. At the general debate on October 9, the US representative once again made groundless accusations against China on COVID-19, and claimed that Russia and China are engaged in nuclear build-up and international peace and security are under grave threat. The Chinese delegation exercised the right of reply in accordance with the rules of procedure of the United Nations General Assembly to refute the accusations leveled by the US.