Neither fair nor reasonable to ask China to join nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage: Chinese FM on Trump’s reported call to include China in nuclear arms control talks

“China has noted the constructive proposals previously put forward by Russia regarding follow-up arrangements to the New START Treaty and hopes the US will respond positively and genuinely uphold global strategic stability,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday in response to a Russian media inquiry about how China views the impact on global strategic stability in regard of the absence of any arms control treaty between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.

According to report, the New START Treaty, signed by Russia and the US in 2010, is due to expire on February 5, 2026. It is the only remaining arms control treaty between the two countries after the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty collapsed in 2019. The Russian media reporter noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously announced that Russia is prepared to continue observing the limits of New START for another year, but the US has yet to respond.

In a follow-up question, when asked about that Financial Times previously reported US President Donald Trump wanted to maintain nuclear weapons restrictions and wanted to include China in arms control talks, Lin said that China’s position on trilateral nuclear arms control talks among China, the US and Russia is clear. The nuclear forces of China and the US are not on the same level at all. At this stage, asking China to join nuclear disarmament negotiations is neither fair nor reasonable.

Global Times