China accused the United States of undermining nuclear disarmament and said it should “reflect on its actions” on nuclear non-proliferation.
The criticism from the Chinese Embassy in Washington was in response to comments by a senior White House aide that the United States may have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons in the future to deter threats from Russia, China and other adversaries.
Pranay Badi, an arms control official on the National Security Council, told the Arms Control Association on Friday that the United States could reach a point in the next few years where it “will need to ramp up from current deployments,” Reuters reported.
“If the president makes the decision, we need to be fully prepared to implement it,” Badi said, adding that “we need more nuclear weapons to deter our adversaries and to protect the American people, our allies and partners.”
Drew Ungerer/Getty Images
Vadi said the United States is committed to the international arms control and non-proliferation regime, but that Russia, China and North Korea “are all aggressively expanding and diversifying their nuclear arsenals,” while “cooperating and coordinating” with Iran, which he said threatens peace and stability.
But an anonymous Chinese embassy representative told the state-run TASS news agency that the comments showed Washington was “undermining the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime and should stop doing so.”
The Chinese embassy statement said the United States “adheres to a policy of nuclear first use, devises a nuclear deterrence strategy against other countries, and invests heavily in strengthening the nuclear triad.”
“Russia has withdrawn from arms control treaties and organizations, strengthened the NATO nuclear alliance and expanded cooperation with allies on advanced military technologies,” the statement added, according to TASS.
Newsweek The US State Department has been contacted for comment.
Beijing’s comments come amid concern that China’s ally Russia has issued nuclear warnings to Western nations since President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin and its propagandists have continued to use threatening rhetoric to highlight Russia’s nuclear capabilities, and President Putin announced last month that he would conduct nuclear drills in response to threats posed by the West.
Last week, Russian ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Balbin, warned NATO allies not to underestimate the threat of nuclear war.
The United States adheres to a limit of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads set by the New Strategic Nuclear Forces Treaty signed with Russia in 2010, but Moscow said it had suspended its participation in the pact in response to U.S. support for Ukraine, a move the State Department has called “irresponsible and unlawful.”
Reuters reported last month that the United States estimates China has 500 operational nuclear warheads, but that number could more than double by 2030, even as Beijing has not responded to U.S. proposals to reduce nuclear risks.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, seeking common ground and finding connections.
