China said Wednesday it has "no intention to participate" in trilateral arms control negotiations, a day after Washington called on Beijing to join its nuclear arms talks with Moscow.
The United States has held two rounds of talks with Russia, aimed at reducing misunderstandings around critical security issues since the collapse of a Cold War nuclear pact last year -- which triggered fears of a new arms race.
Washington has hinted that Beijing should also join the discussions.
But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang accused the US of using Chinese involvement as "a pretext to shirk and shift its own nuclear disarmament responsibilities".
"China has no intention to participate in the so-called China-US-Russia trilateral arms controls negotiations," Geng said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.
Washington has warned about a lack of transparency around China's growing nuclear arsenal, and US President Donald Trump has insisted that any new disarmament pact would need China to come on board.
Geng said that "the country with the largest and most advanced weapons arsenal in the world should earnestly fulfil its special responsibilities for nuclear disarmament", referring to the US.
According to US Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva Robert Wood on Tuesday, China's nuclear stockpile is expected to double over the next decade.
"We have to deal with this serious threat to strategic stability, which is the lack of transparency around China's nuclear stockpile enhancement," he said.
Washington and Moscow walked away from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty in August last year, after each accused the other of violating the terms of the deal.
Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
| Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution. |
||
| SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal |
 |
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only |
Millennials fear nuclear attack in next decade: survey
Geneva (AFP) Jan 16, 2020
More than half of millennials fear there will be a nuclear attack somewhere in the world within the next decade, according to a survey by the Red Cross released on Thursday. Some 47 percent of respondents to the poll of 16,000 young people also believed it was more likely than not that there would be a third world war in their lifetime. "Millennials appear to see cataclysmic war as a real likelihood in their lifetime," Peter Maurer, president of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Re ... read more
from Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense https://ift.tt/2RGDSvv
via space News
No comments: