Beijing said US arms sales to Taiwan have “compromised the political atmosphere” for continuing nuclear non-proliferation talks.
China has suspended nuclear non-proliferation and arms control talks with the United States in protest at Washington's arms sales to the self-ruled island of Taiwan.
The United States on Wednesday called Beijing's decision “unfortunate,” while analysts said the move represents a potentially serious setback for global arms control efforts.
China and the United States launched nuclear arms talks in November as part of a bid to ease mistrust ahead of a summit between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden.
No further talks have been publicly announced since then; in January, a White House official urged Beijing to respond “to some of our more substantial ideas about risk reduction.”
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, a territory it claims, had “seriously compromised the political atmosphere for continuing arms control consultations.”
“Accordingly, the Chinese side has decided to postpone discussion with the United States on a new round of consultations on arms control and non-proliferation,” spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular news conference in Beijing.
“The responsibility lies squarely with the United States,” he said.
Lin added that China was willing to maintain communication on international arms control, but said the US “should respect China's core interests and create necessary conditions for dialogue and exchange.”
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but remains Taiwan's most important partner and largest arms supplier, prompting repeated condemnation from China.
Taiwan has protested for the past four years against China's stepped-up military activity near the island, including near-daily missions by Chinese aircraft and warships.
In June, Washington approved two military sales to Taiwan worth a total of about $300 million, mostly spare and repair parts for the island's F-16 fighter jets.
Risks of the arms race
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller criticized China's decision, saying Beijing has decided to follow Russia's lead in saying arms control engagement cannot continue while there are other challenges to the bilateral relationship.
“We believe this approach undermines strategic stability and increases the risk of an arms race dynamic,” Miller told reporters.
“Unfortunately, by suspending these consultations, China has chosen not to make efforts to manage strategic risks and avoid costly arms races, but we, the United States, will remain open to developing and implementing concrete risk reduction measures with China,” he said.
The Biden administration is advocating a policy of “compartmentalization,” in which nuclear arms control talks are separated from other contentious issues between China and the United States.
China's decision comes just over a month after the Biden administration said the United States may have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons to deter growing threats from the Chinese and Russian arsenals.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the advocacy group Arms Control Association, told Reuters news agency that the United States, Russia and China are legally obligated as signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – the cornerstone of global arms control – to “engage in talks to prevent an arms race.”
“The only way to achieve this is through serious dialogue, and Russia’s refusal to do so and China’s decision to do so are very serious setbacks,” he said.
The United States has an arsenal of about 3,700 nuclear warheads, of which about 1,419 are strategic. Russia has about 1,550 deployed nuclear weapons and, according to the Federation of American Scientists, an arsenal of 4,489 nuclear warheads.
Meanwhile, Washington estimates that China has 500 operational nuclear warheads and will likely have more than 1,000 by 2030.
U.S. officials have expressed frustration that Beijing has shown little interest in discussing measures to reduce the risks of nuclear weapons, but Beijing has long maintained that the United States already has a much larger arsenal.
