By Shen Dingli

The International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism will take effect on July 7. This is the 13th international anti-terrorism convention within the United Nations' framework.

With this convention in place, the agreements reached by the international community have basically covered all aspects in fighting terrorism.

What is most important is that the convention defines nuclear terrorism as a crime against humanity. It follows, therefore, that the domestic laws of the signatory countries and international laws must be oriented to suppressing dissemination of nuclear terrorism and its implementation.

International cooperation, in this regard, is naturally called for within the framework of the convention.

The convention has filled a gap in international laws, in terms of fighting nuclear terrorism.

International terrorism takes multiple forms. And terrorist acts are increasingly taking on a cross-border nature as the flow of personnel, materials and information quickens in our era of globalization.

The September 11 terror attacks six years ago was by far the most shocking. The event also spurred the government of the victim country to take disproportionate revenge, which has, in turn, served to intensify tumult and chaos in the Middle East.

So, it is safe to state that terrorism and the anti-terror fight are two primary factors that combine to power the transformation of the 21st-century's international framework.

The murderous attacks by hijacked planes ramming into the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center simply pale into insignificance when compared to the devastation wrought by possible nuclear or radioactive weapons set off by terrorists.

In August 1945, the United States dropped two atom bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leveling the two cites and killing thousands of people. The bomb that hit Nagasaki, for instance, killed 120,000 people, much more than those who perished in the September 11 attacks.

It should be noted that each nuclear bomb's TNT equivalent was merely 20,000 tons. Today, the average TNT equivalent of a nuclear bomb is several more times than the ones dropped in 1945.

In view of all this, the devastation wrought on humanity by the combination of terrorism and nuclear weapons could defy our worst imagination.

Worse still, the technology of processing fissile materials, which is at the core of building a nuclear bomb, has become widely proliferated.

So far, several countries have mastered the technology of extracting fissile materials. Over the last decade, India, Pakistan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have claimed they have acquired nuclear weapons.

In addition, lawful and illegal transfer of nuclear materials happens time and again, which means that the distance between non-governmental bodies bent on obtaining nuclear weapons and their accessing fissile materials is being dramatically shortened. It is more than likely today that radioactive materials could be used in terror attacks.

Taking all this into account, it might be purely a stroke of good luck that humanity has so far remained safe from the harms wrought by nuclear terrorism.

Confronted by the grave situation, the international community must be galvanized into action. The formulation of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism is the embodiment of the international community's determination to stave off nuclear terrorism.

It states clearly that all acts doing harm to a country or an international organization by obtaining radioactive materials, nuclear materials, nuclear devices and facilities fall under the category of nuclear terrorism.

The convention requires that signatory countries amend their domestic laws in a bid to suppress the brewing of nuclear terrorist acts on their soil. It also demands signatory countries cooperate in anti-nuclear terror vigilance, terrorist acts, heading them off, investigation, information sharing and extradition of criminals.

Through seven years of negotiations, the international community has reached agreement on the convention which was first suggested by Russia in 1998. September 11 and nuclear smuggling incidents have hastened its formulation.

The 59th United National General Assembly passed the convention in April 2005 More than 30 countries, including China, Russia and the United States, signed the convention that very year.

It was agreed that the convention would go into force when a total of 22 countries sanctioned it. On June 7, Bangladesh approved the convention, making up the required number.

China is a nuclear country, possessing civilian-purpose nuclear applications. A number of civilian-purpose nuclear reactors have been constructed and are in operation. Many more are under construction or are being planned.

Now as the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism takes effect, it will give China more opportunities for international cooperation in reinforcing the country's relevant laws and regulations, and strengthening the protection of sensitive nuclear materials. All this, in turn, will facilitate our efforts in fighting cross-border nuclear terrorism.

The author is director of the Center for American Studies with the Shanghai-based Fudan University.

(China Daily June 26, 2007)