Why China Doesn’t Trust
America’s Nuclear Weapons Talks
Newsweek

(July 23, 2024) — On July 17, China’s Foreign Ministry announced the decision to stop nuclear talks because of the US’s arms sales to Taiwan. The US State Department said it was an unfortunate decision made by the Chinese that had undermined US-China strategic stability.

In a separate working paper, China said nuclear sharing and extended deterrence have diminished the willingness of nonnuclear states participating in “arrangements to build nuclear-weapon-free zones or conclude an international legal instrument on security assurances.”

It further urged the “relevant nuclear-weapon state” to abandon the arrangement of nuclear sharing and extended deterrence and withdraw all nuclear weapons deployed overseas.

The Chinese working paper did not name the above single nuclear-weapon state; however, the US has such nuclear arrangements with Australia, Japan, NATO and South Korea.

Washington has committed to extending its nuclear capabilities to protect the three Indo-Pacific allies. For the transatlantic alliance, it is estimated that the US has deployed about 100 tactical nuclear bombs for battlefield use across five European countries.

Europe-based American nukes would be armed on certified non-US fighter jets for nuclear strikes in case of conflicts. Nuclear deterrence, including nuclear sharing, is the core of NATO’s mutual security guarantee and collective defense, the alliance said.

“”Over the past weeks and months, despite China’s firm opposition and repeated protest, the US has continued to sell arms to Taiwan and done things that severely undermine China’s core interests and the mutual trust between China and the US,” Lin said.”

China accused the US of compromising the “political atmosphere” for continuing arms control talks and thus decided to suspend discussions on a new round of consultations. “The responsibility fully lies with the US,” Lin said.

China’s long-ruling Communist Party has the stated goal of “unifying” Taiwan with the Chinese mainland, with force if necessary. The US, meanwhile, has been Taipei’s largest weapons supplier for decades and is obliged by an American domestic law to help Taiwan defend itself.

Related News
https://www.newsweek.com/why-china-not-trust-america-nuclear-weapons-talks-1926809
https://www.newsweek.com/china-makes-nuclear-weapons-demands-us-1928848

Comment
Natalya Panteleyeva — (1) Any sign of change in the US foreign policy? (2) If the US claims its official position is to acknowledge One China, which domestic law mandates it arming Taiwan not at war at this time? Will the US fight China over computer chips?

I am getting from the report that the BRICS+ want to stop arms trading and dealing as a precondition to nuclear non-proliferation. https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/att/att.html

A new administration that does not need to be weaned off the gravy train of the military-industrial complex is preferable. Especially since it is not competitive at all, producing weapons that cost times of what other countries produce. NATO can only force sell its weapons, like in the Soviet Union, they used to sell packages in which one-two items were desirable, the rest the state wanted to get rid of.