Why China’s attack on Nato ‘double standards’ suggests it will continue to build up nuclear arsenal

The alliance’s head Jens Stoltenberg accused Beijing of increasing its firepower ‘without constraint’ and urged it to sign up to international arms controls

But Beijing hit back by criticising Nato’s nuclear sharing arrangements and said the US and Russia should lead the way by disarming

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China has declined to join arms control talks. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:00am, 12 Sep 2021Updated: 10:46pm, 12 Sep 2021

China is expected to continue building up its arsenal of nuclear weapons despite Nato’s appeal for it to sign up to international arms controls.

Last week Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg criticised China’s efforts to develop its nuclear capacity – by building more warheads, delivery systems and silos – “without any limitation or constraint”.

He told Nato’s annual arms control conference in Brussels that this was making the world “more unpredictable, more competitive and more dangerous”.

“As a global power, China has global responsibilities in arms control. And Beijing, too, would benefit from mutual limits on numbers, increased transparency, and more predictability,” Stoltenberg said.

But the foreign ministry in Beijing hit back at the criticisms by urging Nato to abolish its nuclear sharing arrangements and remove warheads deployed in Europe, adding that the United States should “drastically and substantively” reduce its nuclear stockpile.

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