1
The signature and ratification of the Convention by the Taiwan authorities in the name of China on 10 April 1972 and 9 February 1973 are illegal and null and void."
3.
INDIA
Statement on signacure:
"India has stood for the elimination of both chemical and
bacteriological (biological) weapons. However, in view of the situation that developed in regard to the discussions concerning biological and chemical weapons, it became possible to reach agreement at the present moment on a Convention on the elimination of biological and toxin weapons only. Negotiations would need to be continued for the elimination of chemical weapons also. It has been recognised that, both in regard to the Convention on biological and toxin weapons and in respect of future negotiations concerning chemical weapons, the Geneva Protocol of 1925 should be safeguarded and the inseparable link between prohibition of biological and chemical weapons should be maintained.
India's position on the Convention on biological and toxin weapons has been outlined in the scatements of the representative of India before the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament (CCD) and the First Committee of the General Assembly.
The Government of India would like to reiterate in particular its understanding that he objective of the Convention is to eliminate biological and toxin weapons, thereby excluding completely the possibility of their use, and that the exemption in regard to biological agents or toxins, which would be permitted for prophylactic, protective or ocher peaceful purposes would not, in any way, create a loophole in regard to the production or retention of biological and toxin weapons. Also, any assistance which might be furnished under the terms of the Convention would be of medical or humanitarian nature and in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
India's support of the Convention on biological and toxin weapons is based on these main considerations. It is India's earnest hope that the Convention will be adhered to by all States, including all the major Powers, at a very early date."
This statement was reiterated on ratification.
IRELAND
Declaration:
"The accession on 29th August 1930 of the Government of the Irish Free State to the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Mechods of Warface, opened for signature at Geneva on 17 June 1925, was subject co the reservations that they did not intend to assume by