China on Thursday said it would not join nuclear arms control negotiations “at this stage,” following the expiry of the United States–Russia New START treaty, a development that has heightened global concerns about a renewed nuclear arms race.
The New START treaty, which officially lapsed on February 5, ended decades of restrictions on the number of nuclear warheads deployed by the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
Its expiration has prompted warnings from arms control advocates that other countries, including China, could feel pressured to rapidly expand their nuclear arsenals.
Responding to calls for Beijing to be included in a new agreement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China’s nuclear capabilities are not comparable to those of Washington and Moscow.
“China’s nuclear capabilities are of a totally different scale as those of the United States and Russia, and will not participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage,” he told a news conference.
The United States has repeatedly insisted that any future nuclear agreement must include China, but diplomatic efforts to bring Beijing into talks have so far yielded no success.
Russia and the United States together control more than 80 per cent of the world’s nuclear warheads.
Under New START, first signed in 2010, both countries were capped at 1,550 deployed strategic warheads, representing a nearly 30 per cent reduction from earlier limits.
The treaty also allowed on-site inspections, which were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic and never resumed.
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Although China’s nuclear arsenal is expanding, estimates put its number of strategic nuclear launchers at about 550—significantly fewer than the 800 each permitted to the United States and Russia under the now-expired treaty.
The lapse of New START, after U.S. President Donald Trump declined to extend the agreement despite a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin, has underscored growing uncertainty around global arms control and raised fears of escalating nuclear competition.