US, China Attempt to Resume Nuclear Disarmament Talks

The United States is attempting to resume nuclear disarmament talks with China, foreign media reported from Beijing, China on the 29th (local time).

According to foreign media outlets, citing a senior official from the Joe Biden administration, the United States sees a “limited opportunity” to have initial talks with China on nuclear disarmament, and is pressuring China, which has not responded for a long time.

“We saw a limited opportunity, at least in the last few months, to start conversations on this topic,” said the official, who requested anonymity.

The official said talks on nuclear disarmament have been sporadic and will continue to be so, adding that “they have indicated a willingness to start addressing the periphery of disarmament, but they have not been very forthcoming in following through.”

He continued, “I would say the atmosphere for dialogue will be more ripe in 2024 than in 2022, but we still have a long way to go to get to the type of thorough talks we need to have.”

The official stressed that although the scope of the U.S.-China nuclear disarmament talks may be narrower than the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), a previous nuclear arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia, it is meaningful in its own right.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a New START disarmament dialogue,” he said. “It’s about talking about principles, talking about strategic caution, talking about risk reduction measures that both sides can take to reduce the likelihood of a catastrophic miscalculation.” “The fact that that’s not happening is not good for the world, and we will continue to strengthen that.”

The senior official’s remarks that the U.S. is again pressuring China to resume nuclear disarmament talks came during a visit to Beijing by Jake Sullivan, Biden’s foreign policy adviser and U.S. National Security Advisor, from the 27th to the 29th.

The United States and China held their first formal nuclear disarmament talks in November last year since the Barack Obama administration, but negotiations have since stalled.

Foreign media reported that although informal talks (Track 2 or Track 1.5) in a semi-governmental, semi-private format rather than official discussions at the government level (Track 1) on the nuclear issue resumed, there were no signs that official nuclear disarmament negotiations would resume in the near future.

In a report released in October last year, the U.S. Department of Defense predicted that China currently possesses more than 500 nuclear warheads and that this number will rapidly increase to more than 1,000 by 2030.

Reporter Kim Min-young argus@asiae.co.kr