- CTBT Ratification Workshop brought together 15 SEAPFE Region States.
The Pacific Island State of Palau announced at a regional CTBTO workshop in Manila, Philippines, that it had just completed the national ratification process for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Once the instruments of ratification are deposited with the United Nations Secretary-General, Palau will become the 18th State in the South-East Asia, Pacific and the Far East (SEAPFE) region to have ratified the Treaty.
The three-day workshop, hosted by the Government of the Philippines from 27-29 June, was being held especially for the SEAPFE region. Representatives from 15 States participated: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu and Viet Nam.
Focusing on the Treaty status of States participating in the workshop, the Philippines, host country and ASEAN chair through June 2007, New Zealand and Viet Nam have all signed and ratified the Treaty with Palau's ratification awaiting confirmation. Eight others, i.e. China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Thailand, have signed but not yet ratified. The Treaty is still awaiting signature by the three small island States of Niue, Tonga and Tuvalu (in addition to Timor Leste, which did not attend the workshop).
- South-East Asia, Pacific and Far East Region
Region-wide, 27 of the 32 States have signed the Treaty and 17 have formally ratified it. Of critical importance are the three Annex 2 States - China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Indonesia - that belong to this region and who must ratify before the Treaty can enter into force. The DPRK has yet to sign the Treaty.
In his welcoming remarks, HE Alberto G. Romulo, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, reminded participants that "the nuclear age in fact dawned in our region … We must therefore collectively abhor the possibility of another Hiroshima and Nagasaki in our midst." The Philippines, as a ratifying State, has strongly supported the CTBT throughout the region because "we have faith in the global non-proliferation regime, of which this Treaty is a cornerstone," he said.
