US calls on China to ‘help avert unconstrained arms race’ at rare nuclear talks in Washington

First such bilateral discussion since 2019 described as ‘candid and in-depth’, according to State Department readout
US said to have stressed importance of greater Chinese nuclear transparency and substantive engagement to cut risks

US-China relations

Amber Wangin Washington

Published: 12:21am, 8 Nov 2023

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The US called on China to “help avert an unconstrained arms race” during a rare nuclear discussion between the two sides in Washington on Monday, the State Department said on Tuesday.

The meeting covering issues tied to arms control and non-proliferation was “candid and in-depth”, according to a readout released on Tuesday, adding it was part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the bilateral relationship.

The talks, the first of their kind since July 2019, came as Washington has repeatedly voiced concerns about Beijing’s “rapid” expansion of its nuclear arsenal and having accused it previously of declining to engage in substantive arms control discussions.

During the discussion, the US stressed the importance of greater Chinese nuclear transparency and substantive engagement on practical measures to manage and reduce strategic risks across multiple domains, including nuclear and outer space, the readout said.

The US highlighted the need to promote stability, help avert an unconstrained arms race and manage competition so that it does not veer into conflict, it added.

A Wednesday statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the talks touched upon a wide range of issues, including non-proliferation and cooperation among the five nuclear powers on the UN Security Council as well as control of conventional weapons.

The two sides have agreed to keep communication open to bolster mutual trust, manage differences and explore possibility of cooperation, it added.

Monday’s meeting involved Mallory Stewart, assistant secretary of state for arms control and Sun Xiaobo, who leads the Chinese foreign ministry’s arms control department.

The American delegation included senior officials from the departments of State, Defence and Energy as well as the National Security Council.

Described by the State Department as “constructive”, the discussion followed high-level consultations such as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan during the envoy’s visit last month to Washington, among other recent bilateral engagements.

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Three consultations between the US and China have taken place since Wang’s visit, covering maritime issues, policy planning and the advancement of disability rights.

The two sides are working towards a leaders’ summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month in San Francisco.

“We have continually called on the PRC to substantively engage on arms control issues, and reducing strategic risk, and this engagement will continue efforts to responsibly manage the relationship and ensure competition does not veer into conflict,” said Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesman, on Monday.

Tong Zhao of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said the two sides appeared to have discussed a wide range of issues but no breakthroughs or substantial results were reached from the discussions, as expected.

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Although the US is highly interested in a potential agreement to put a limit on future nuclear expansion, Zhao said, the Biden administration understood the lack of interest on the Chinese side in formal arms control negotiations.

“Washington’s hope is to start with easier and smaller steps that involve transparency and confidence-building measures and that may contribute to the broader goal of mitigating [an] arms race and maintaining stability,” he added.

The Pentagon estimated Beijing’s stockpile numbered more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May this year, with the total expected to exceed 1,000 by 2030, according to its recently released annual report on Chinese military power.

Most of the stockpile would be fielded on systems capable of reaching the continental US, it said.

Last year China rejected American requests to discuss strategic stability or strategic risk reduction and other impacts of Beijing’s rapid nuclear build-up, the report said.

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The US and Russia together possess almost 90 per cent of all nuclear weapons. As of January, Washington maintained a military stockpile of about 3,708 nuclear warheads, while Moscow had about 4,489, according to data from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think tank.

Expectations for progress ahead of Monday’s talks were low, according to an assessment by Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. It said Beijing and Washington stood far apart on nuclear proliferation and arms control.

The US has sought China’s cooperation in reducing global nuclear stockpiles, but Beijing has argued that it should not have to slow or reverse its build-up while Washington’s arsenal remained far larger, Eurasia Group said.

Monday’s talks also offered a rare opportunity for new insights into the extent of China’s current nuclear stockpile, the consultancy added.

The People’s Liberation Army has long objected to any increased transparency into China’s comparatively modest arsenal. The talks did not imply progress on a military-to-military front because the principal participants were civilian officials, it said.