China will not take part in Russia US nuclear talks

(July 12) In a statement on Friday the Foreign Ministry of China issued a statement that confirmed that they would not be attending nuclear arms control talks with the US and Russia.

China claims that the US invitation was neither serious nor sincere

China had responded to the US invitation by saying that they would join but only if the US reduced its nuclear arsenal to the approximate level of that of China. The US could no doubt claim that this response was also neither serious nor sincere as China would have known such as condition would never be accepted by the US. As the US naturally refused to accept China's condition China will not take part in the meetings between Russia and the US.

It was to be expected China would not join meetings

Russia and the US have each about 6,000 nuclear warheads while China has only 320. China's arsenal is almost immaterial in terms of global limitations and it is unlikely to agree to any limitations given the huge numbers in the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the US. Nevertheless, perhaps the US wanted to ensure that China could not keep building up its stockpile while Russia and the US were limiting their arsenals.

Russia accuses US of not wanting serious talks

Russia has suggested that the US may not be interested in serious reduction talks and wanted to invite China as a way of delaying any talks. Trump has even maintained that China must be involved and threatened not to have any talks if China is not involved.

The New Start Treaty which came into effect in February of 2011 will expire next February so talks are needed to create a new treaty before that. Russia was willing to renew the treaty after it expired but Trump claims the treaty was too favorable to Russia.

The US appears not to even want talks with Russia and is using China's non-participation as an excuse not to go forwards with talks. Trump feels he can win any nuclear arms race by outspending Russia and China ruining their economies. However any such policy is bound to wreak havoc on the US economy. Trump's appears to favor a lose-lose policy while failing to notice that the US loses as well. There are also sorts of economic problems that could be solved through diverting military spending to alternative uses such as repairing infrastructure, improving healthcare and education.

Previously published in the Digital Journal