By Defense Post
July 09, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" - Beijing said Wednesday that
US demands for it to join nuclear disarmament talks with
Russia are a ruse to sink the negotiations, but it could
take part if Washington lowers its arsenals to China’s
level.
US and Russian officials held talks in Vienna last
month to discuss a replacement for the
New START treaty, which limits each side to 1,550
deployed nuclear warheads but is due to run out in
February.
US President Donald
Trump has insisted China be included in
disarmament talks, citing what he says is the free rein
Beijing has had to develop weapons systems.
China has shown no interest in participating.
Fu Cong,
director-general of the Department of Arms Control at
China’s foreign ministry, said the US pressure is
“nothing but a ploy to divert world tension” and “create
a pretext under which they can walk away from the New
START.”
“Their real purpose is to get rid of all the
restrictions and have a free hand in seeking military
superiority over any adversary, real or imagined,” Fu
said at a news conference.
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The US and Russia hold more than 90 percent of the
world’s nuclear weapons, according to the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
According to the institute’s latest research, Russia
has 6,375 nuclear warheads, including those that are not
deployed, and the United States has 5,800.
By contrast, China has 320, France 290, and the UK
215.
“Saying that the small number of nuclear warheads
that China possesses poses a threat to… US security,
when the US has 6,000, I don’t think that stands to
logic,” Fu said.
“I can assure you that if the US says that they are
ready to come down to the Chinese level, China will be
happy to participate the next day. But actually, we know
that it’s not going to happen. We know the US policy.”
The priority for China is for Washington and Moscow
to agree to extend the New START treaty and continue to
reduce their arsenals on that basis, Fu said.
He added that China “will participate when their
nuclear arsenals come down to a level comparable to the
level of Chinese nuclear warheads.”
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