'No illusion’ about nuclear-free zones

Press, 16 June 1982, Page 3

'No illusion’ about nuclear-free zones

NZPA staff correspondent Washington The New Zealand Government was in favour of nuclear-weapon-free zones but was under no illusion about the difficulty of implementing them, its permanent representative at the United nations, Mr H. H. Francis, told the United Nations special session on disarmament yesterday. "We" should like to see the whole world free of nuclear weapons, and nowhere more than our own part of the world, the South Pacific,” he said. “There are formidable difficulties in the way of establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in an area which is predominantly ocean space, not least the difficulty of verifying its compliance. “New Zealand would favour the establishment' of a verifiable nuclear-weapon-free zone in the South Pacific. compatible with the rele-

vant rules of international law and the security arrangement to which New Zealand is a party. ,'We are, however, under no illusions about the difficulty under present circumstances of satisfying these requirements.” No goal had a higher priority for the New Zealand Government than the conclusions of a comprehensive test ban treaty, Mr Francis said. Nuclear-weapon testing had continued at a high level and it was a matter of particular concern to New Zealand that some of those tests were being conducted in the South Pacific. New Zealand, with its particular expertise in seismology, had given its support to the ad hoc seismic group in Geneva by sending scientists there, said Mr Francis. “We regard this as a practical contribution we can make to the goal of international verification of a

comprehensive test ban." New Zealand also welcomed a Swedish proposal for an international system to monitor airborne radioactivity, Mr Francis said. “It is our hope to be in a position to participate in such a system. We are also ready to help assess other means of enhancing the existing verification regime.” Mr Francis said it was a measure of the frustration non-nuclear governments and their peoples felt about lack of progress towards nuclear disarmament that they had turned to such regional measures as nuclear-weapon-free zones and zones of peace. He also spoke out against chemical warfare, the buildup of armed forces, and the spread of conventional weapons, “in particular, the advanced weapons which recent wars have shown can cause appalling devastation.”