China suspends nuclear talks with Washington

China has halted nascent nuclear-arms-control talks with the United States, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday, in a protest of Washington’s arms sales to the democratically governed island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.

The Chinese decision deals a potentially serious setback to global arms-control efforts, with Beijing joining Moscow in refusing to discuss with Washington measures to curb a nuclear-arms race, analysts said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said repeated U.S. arms sales to Taiwan in recent months had “seriously compromised the political atmosphere for continuing the arms-control consultations.”

“Consequently, the Chinese side has decided to hold off discussion with the U.S. on a new round of consultations on arms control and non-proliferation. The responsibility fully lies with the U.S.,” Lin told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Lin said China was willing to maintain communication on international arms control, but that the U.S. “must respect China’s core interests and create necessary conditions for dialogue and exchange.”

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said China has chosen to follow Russia’s lead by asserting that arms-control engagement cannot proceed while there are other challenges in the bilateral relationship.

“We think this approach undermines strategic stability, it increases the risk of arms-race dynamics,” Miller told reporters.

“Unfortunately, by suspending these consultations, China has chosen not to pursue efforts that would manage strategic risks and prevent costly arms races, but we the United States will remain open to developing and implementing concrete risk-reduction measures with China.”

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration advocates a policy of “compartmentalization,” in which nuclear-arms-control talks are segregated from other contentious Sino-U.S. issues.

The Chinese decision comes just over a month after the Biden administration said the United States may have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons to deter growing threats from Chinese and Russian arsenals.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association advocacy group, said the U.S., Russia and China are legally bound as signatories of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty — the cornerstone of global arms control — to “engage in talks to prevent the arms race.”

“The only way they can accomplish that is through serious dialogue and Russia’s refusal to do so and China’s decision to do so are very serious setbacks,” he said.

U.S. and Chinese officials resumed nuclear-weapons discussions in November, but formal arms-control negotiations had not been expected any time soon despite U.S. concerns about China’s rapid nuclear weapons build-up.

The U.S. estimates China has 500 operational nuclear warheads and will probably have more than 1,000 by 2030.

U.S. officials have expressed frustration that Beijing has showed little interest in discussing steps to reduce nuclear weapons risks. But Beijing has long argued that the U.S. already has a much larger arsenal.

The U.S. has a stockpile of about 3,700 nuclear warheads, of which roughly 1,419 strategic nuclear warheads were deployed. Russia has about 1,550 nuclear weapons deployed and according to the Federation of American Scientists, a stockpile of 4,489 nuclear warheads.

The U.S. is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties. China has repeatedly demanded that these arms sales stop.

Taiwan has protested for the past four years about stepped-up Chinese military activity near the island, including almost daily missions by Chinese warplanes and warships.