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CNS Programs: EANP Conference

"Missiles, Theatre Missile Defense, and Regional Stability" 

Second US-China Conference on Arms Control, Disarmament and Nonproliferation

Hosted by
The Monterey Institute of International Studies

Conference Setting

On 27 – 29 April 1999, the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) at Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) hosted the "Second US–China Conference on Arms Control, Disarmament and Nonproliferation." CNS/MIIS co-organized the conference with the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS). The central topic of the conference this year was "Missiles, Theatre Missile Defense and Regional Stability." 

This MIIS-CIIS "Track 11/2" bilateral conference was the second in a series held between the arms control communities in the United States and China. The most outstanding characteristics of the conference were the high-level representation by officials from both countries as well as the frank and substantive exchanges which took place. 

The conference began on the evening of 27 April with an reception hosted by MIIS at the Doubletree Hotel in Monterey, California. MIIS President Richard Krasno welcomed the conference participants to Monterey and Ambassador Yang Chengxu, President of CIIS, noted the importance of the conference as a principal channel for unofficial dialogue between the United States and China on arms control and nonproliferation issues. 

The first full day of the conference (28 April) was opened with remarks from Dr. William Potter, Director of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies and Ambassador Yang Chengxu, President of CIIS. Presentations were also given by Donald Gross, Senior Advisor to the Acting Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs and Ambassador Sha Zukang, Director General of the Department of Arms Control and Disarmament in China’s Foreign Ministry. These senior level officials challenged all the participants to illuminate and add depth to the current US and Chinese understanding of controversial missile and missile defense issues in Northeast Asia. 


(Ambassador Sha Zukang, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Einhorn, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Shirk, Ambassador Yang Chengxu.)

The conference was attended by 45 Americans and 22 Chinese. Organizations and institutions represented included the following: 

United States

    Monterey Institute of International Studies 
    US Department of State 
    US Department of Defense 
    Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College 
    Former Member of Congress 
    Center for Naval Analysis Corporation 
    Science Application International Corporation 
    Stanford University 
    Congressional Research Service 
    Union of Concerned Scientists 
    North American Air Defense Command 
    Lawrence Livermore Laboratory 
    Nautilus Institute 
    Pacific Command 
    Strategic Command 
    State University of New York at Stony Brook 
    Sandia National Laboratories 
    Ford Foundation 
    Rockefeller Foundation 
    W. Alton Jones Foundation 
    John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation 
China
    China Institute of International Studies 
    Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
    Institute for Strategic Studies, National Defense University 
    China Institute for International Strategic Studies 
    China Defense Science and Technology Information Center 
    China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology 
    Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics 
    Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 
    Chinese Embassy in the United States 
    Permanent Mission of the PRC to the UN 
Given this variety of representation and the depth of the participants' expertise, the conference enjoyed substantive, frank, and highly constructive discussion about Chinese missile deployments that threaten the Taiwan area and the research and deployment of theater missile defense systems in the Northeast Asia region. 

The conference's first six panels focused on missiles and theater missile defenses. They covered the strategic implications, technologies, political and economic considerations and potential policy responses by the United States and China. The last two panels broadened the discussion to the impact of missile proliferation on stability in other regions of the world and on future arms control and nonproliferation issues confronting the United States and China. 


(Michael Oksenberg, Don Gross, Ye Ru’an, Michael Nacht)

There was significant disagreement over US arms sales to Taiwan, missile defenses in Asia, and ballistic missile proliferation. On these issues, both sides were sensitized to the intensity of the perceptions of the other side. The Chinese argued that TMD deployments to Northeast Asia would start an arms race and would encourage some in Taiwan to seek independence. The Americans pointed out that TMD is a response to the North Korea missile threat (especially to Japan) and that many in the US, particularly in the Congress, insist that Taiwan be protected from the apparently increasing Chinese missile deployments opposite Taiwan. 

Simultaneous interpretation for the conference was provided by professors from the MIIS Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation. 

By all accounts, the conference was a major success that showed a mature process of interaction between the two sides. It reinforced the fact that the CIIS and CNS/MIIS partnership is extremely useful as a channel for unofficial dialogue between the United States and China in the field of arms control and nonproliferation. 


(William Potter, Lawrence Scheinman, Ambassador Sha Zukang,Hon. Kurt Campbell, Ambassador Yang Chengxu)

The conference ended with a banquet at the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium at which Ambassador Sha gave an impassioned speech that noted the need for better US-China cooperation in all security fields, especially arms control and nonproliferation. Dr. Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, responded with an address that outlined the multiple challenges the United States faces in maintaining stability in East Asia in the next century.


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