Historic landmine ban treaty signed

It was a diplomatic triumph for Axworthy, who with Prime Minister Jean Chretien marshaled support from around the world into a treaty in just 14 months, an usually short time in traditional arms diplomacy.

But the big military powers, the United States, Russia, China, and most Middle East nations refused to sign this week, insisting that some need for landmines remained.

An estimated 60 to 100 million mines infest 69 countries. The weapons kill or maim over 25,000 people every year, equal to a victim every 22 min often striking children and women, according to the International Committee of Red Cross.

The treaty also marked the success of a public campaign by Britain’s late Princess Diana, which focussed world attention on the human toll taken by landmines. China, a major holdout on the international treaty said that it needs to keep using the anti-personal landmines to defend itself.

“China supports the ban and promised last year not to export land mines, but has legitimate requirements for self-defence,” said Tang Guoqiang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

“Before an alternative of APLS is found, the Chinese army must reserve the right to use APLS on its own soil so as to form defence capability,” head of the Chinese observer delegation at the ongoing Ottawa landmine conference, Zha Peixin, said.

“The sole purpose of this reservation lies in safeguarding national unity and territorial integrity of the country and ensuring the peaceful life of the Chinese people,” Zha said.

Last week, China began a second round of clearing thousands of land mines planted during its 1979, border war with Vietnam. The operation is intended to clear more than 100 sqkm of mine fields.

Experts estimate there are between 60 million and 120 million active mines scattered around the globe.