Will China achieve nuclear parity with the United States? Washington warns Beijing of ‘rapid’ development of nuclear weapons
The United States on Monday accused China of significantly expanding its nuclear arsenal and conducting secret nuclear tests, urging Beijing to include them in future arms control treaties. According to Agence France-Presse, US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Christopher Yeh said in a speech at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that the recent expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia provided an opportunity to negotiate a “better deal” that included China.
“Perhaps its greatest flaw is that New START fails to take into account China’s unprecedented, deliberate, rapid and opaque nuclear weapons buildup,” Yeo said. “Despite China’s claims to the contrary, it has deliberately and unchecked massively expanded its nuclear arsenal without transparency or any indication of China’s intentions or endpoints.”You warned that Beijing could “achieve a balance of power within the next four to five years” and said China was expected to have enough fissile material to build more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. New START, which expires on February 5, limits the United States and Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each. The expiration marks the first time in decades that there is no treaty limiting the deployment of the world’s most destructive weapons, raising fears of a new arms race. Yeo defended the treaty’s demise, arguing that its quantitative limits were “no longer relevant” in light of Russia’s alleged violations and claiming that Moscow had helped “enhance Beijing’s ability to expand the size of its nuclear arsenal.”“The timing of the expiry is fortuitous,” he said, adding that it allowed U.S. President Donald Trump to pursue “the ultimate goal of a better deal.” You emphasized that the United States remains committed to arms control, saying: “Our goal is to reach a better agreement and build a world with fewer nuclear weapons.”
