chemical weapons has also been slow. The existence and use of chemical weapons still pose a real threat. In short, disarmament is still far from gaining any substantive progress, and this can only be attributed to the lack of political will on the part of the countries possessing the largest nuclear arsenals. The total annual military expenditures of the whole world, now reaching almost $1 trillion, have seriously affected the economic and social developments of various countries. Like the other peace-loving countries of the world, China is deeply concerned about this situation. We welcome the ongoing negotiations between the Soviet Union and the United States. But much to our regret, these talks are so far still marking time, and what is more disquieting is that there seem to have been attempts to substitute these talks for the multilateral negotiations and to use the latter only as a forum AW/gmr A/C.l/40/PV.B 47 (Mr. Qian Jiadong, China) for propaganda to score points. we hope that the forthcoming summit meeting between the Soviet Union and the United States will help change this course of events. In view of the present unsatisfactory situation, and in consideration of the strong desire of the peoples of the world to curb the arms race and avert a nuclear war, China's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Wu Xueqian, put forward a four-point proposal during the general debate of the current session of the General Assembly which I would like to elaborate upon a little further. The four points are as follows: First, all nuclear States, and the two big nuclear Powers -the United States and the soviet Union- in particular, should undertake not to be the first to use nuclear weapons in any circumstances and should unconditionally pledge not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear States or nuclear-free zones. Proceeding from 
**Analysis**
This text appears to be a diplomatic statement or a speech by a representative of China, addressing the topic of disarmament, nuclear weapons, and international relations. The text does not mention economic development, natural resources, agriculture, forestry, fishing, industry, transport, communication, health, education, employment, humanitarian aid, or culture. It does not seem to be related to science and technology either, although it does mention the use of nuclear weapons. The main focus is on international relations, disarmament, and nuclear weapons, which suggests that the category should be related to these topics.

**Category**
International relations