China and the United States will discuss nuclear arms control next week. These will be the first such talks since the Obama administration, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
On Monday, following Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Washington, China’s Foreign Ministry said the two countries would hold “consultations on arms control and nonproliferation” in the coming days, as well as talks separate discussions on maritime and other issues.
Those arms talks will begin Monday and will be led by Mallory Stewart, a senior State Department official, and Sun Xiaobo, head of arms control at China’s Foreign Ministry, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The State Department and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters requests about the timing or format of the talks.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated in 2021 that the Chinese and US presidents had agreed to “open a debate on strategic stability”, referring to Washington’s concerns about Beijing’s nuclear arsenal.
But the White House quickly said the discussions would not resemble arms reduction talks like those the United States has had with Russia.
The Biden administration has since expressed disappointment that China has shown little interest in discussing measures to reduce the risk of using nuclear weapons.
The Pentagon said in October that China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads, and that number is likely to exceed 1,000 by 2030. But Beijing has long maintained that the United States has a much larger arsenal. The arms talks will take place ahead of a proposed meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November, although a Biden administration source said Tuesday that important details remained to be worked out.
A series of diplomatic exchanges between China and the United States in recent months have largely come at the behest of Washington, which is trying to salvage rapidly deteriorating relations between the two countries after the U.S. military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was flying over the United States. in February.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, said the long-awaited talks in this area will likely focus on promoting greater transparency in each country’s nuclear doctrines and more effective lines of communication in crisis situations.
“However, I don’t think we should expect progress in the short term. “This will take time and give and take on both sides,” Kimball said.