BEIJING: China on Wednesday said it had halted talks with the United States on nuclear non-proliferation and arms control in response to Washington’s arms sales to Taiwan.
The US and China in November held rare negotiations on nuclear arms control, in a bid to reduce mistrust before a meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.
Further talks have not been announced s publicly since, with a White House official in January asking Beijing to respond to some more solid on the reduction of risk.
But China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday said recent U.S. sales of weapons to Taiwan were seriously undermining the political atmosphere for arms control consultations between the two countries.
“The US has… continued its arms sales to Taiwan, and taken a series of negative actions that seriously damage China’s core interests and undermine political mutual trust,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.
He went on to say China has decided to halt talks with the United States on a new round of weapons control and non-proliferation.
The Pentagon in a report last October said that China was developing its nuclear weapons more quickly than the United States had anticipated. It said China possessed more than 500 functional nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and is likely to have more than 1,000 by 2030.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the US currently possesses about 3,700 nuclear warheads, while Russia has roughly 4,500.
Lin said China is willing to maintain contacts with the United States on international arms control issues on the basis of mutual respect.
“But the United States must respect China’s core interests and create necessary conditions for dialogue,” he warned.
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but has remained Taiwan’s most important partner and biggest weapons arms supplier.
