China Refuses to Join Nuclear Disarmament Talks

With the end of this treaty between the United States and Russia, the world faces a situation for the first time in decades where there is no international legal framework to regulate the nuclear arsenals of the two major superpowers.

Amidst this profound uncertainty, Germany has expressed fears regarding the start of a fresh global arms race. During a visit to Beijing, the German government issued a strong call for China to join nuclear arms control negotiations. However, China has explicitly stated that it will not participate in any trilateral disarmament talks "at this stage."

At a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated, "Compared to the nuclear capabilities of the United States and Russia, China’s nuclear stockpile is extremely small. The scale of our capacity is completely different from theirs. Therefore, it is unfair and unreasonable to pressure China to join such talks at this moment."

The New START treaty, signed in 2010, limited the number of deployed nuclear warheads for the US and Russia to 1,550 each. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed informally adhering to the treaty for another year last year, there was no concrete response from Washington.

Military experts believe that China's firm stance, coupled with the collapse of the US-Russia treaty, could push the world into a new and more complex "Cold War." This creates a significant security risk, especially for Gen-Z, who aspire to a peaceful world free of nuclear weapons.