China has halted nascent nuclear-arms-control talks with the United States, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday, in a protest of Washington’s arms sales to the democratically governed island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.
The Chinese decision deals a potentially serious setback to global arms-control efforts, with Beijing joining Moscow in refusing to discuss with Washington measures to curb a nuclear-arms race, analysts said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said repeated U.S. arms sales to Taiwan in recent months had “seriously compromised the political atmosphere for continuing the arms-control consultations.”
“Consequently, the Chinese side has decided to hold off discussion with the U.S. on a new round of consultations on arms control and non-proliferation. The responsibility fully lies with the U.S.,” Lin told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association advocacy group, said the U.S., Russia and China are legally bound as signatories of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty – the cornerstone of global arms control – to “engage in talks to prevent the arms race.”
“The only way they can accomplish that is through serious dialogue and Russia’s refusal to do so and China’s decision to do so are very serious setbacks,” he said.
U.S. and Chinese officials resumed nuclear-weapons discussions in November, but formal arms-control negotiations had not been expected any time soon despite U.S. concerns about China’s rapid nuclear weapons build-up.
The U.S. estimates China has 500 operational nuclear warheads and will probably have more than 1,000 by 2030.
U.S. officials have expressed frustration that Beijing has showed little interest in discussing steps to reduce nuclear weapons risks. But Beijing has long argued that the U.S. already has a much larger arsenal.