China agrees to nuclear arms-control talks with US, news report says
- The discussions will be led by senior State Department official Mallory Stewart and Sun Xiaobo, head of the arms-control department at China’s foreign ministry
- A recent flurry of bilateral diplomatic engagements, largely at US request, has sought to salvage rapidly deteriorating ties between Beijing and Washington
China and the United States will discuss nuclear arms control next week, the first such talks since the Obama administration, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
China’s foreign ministry said on Monday after a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Washington that the two countries would hold “consultations on arms control and non-proliferation” in the coming days, as well as separate talks on maritime affairs and other issues.
Those arms talks would be led on Monday by Mallory Stewart, a senior State Department official, and Sun Xiaobo, the head of the arms-control department at China’s foreign ministry, the Journal report said.
The US State Department and China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests by Reuters for comment on the timing or format of the talks.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in 2021 that the Chinese and US presidents had agreed to “look to begin to carry forward discussion on strategic stability”, a reference to Washington’s concerns about Beijing’s nuclear weapons build-up.