US and China to hold long-awaited talks on nuclear arms control

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – For the first time since talks held with the Obama administration, China will next week hold “consultations” on nuclear arms control and non-proliferation, Reuters reports. China made the announcement Monday after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Washington, Reuters reports. The talks are understood to be taking place in the coming days.

Next week’s discussion on nuclear weapons will be chaired by Mallory Stewart, a senior State Department official, and Sun Xiaobo, the head of the arms-control department at China’s Foreign Ministry, the Wall Street Journal reports. The talks will likely precede a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November.

China’s announcement follows frustration within the Biden administration that the Chinese appeared to have dragged their feet in actively seeking to discuss non-proliferation and arms control, Reuters said. Washington has been concerned about China’s build-up of nuclear weapons.

In 2021, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US and China had agreed to “look to begin to carry forward discussion on strategic stability,” but there have been no talks on atomic weaponry until now.

According to the Pentagon, China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads and will likely have over 1,000 warheads by 2030, Reuters said. As of 2021, the US had 3,750 nuclear warheads.

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