Washington: The United States and China held unusual talks on nuclear arms control. This is a new step to ease mistrust ahead of an expected presidential summit next week.
The talks – the first meeting specifically on nuclear arms between the two powers since President Mr. Barack Obama’s administration, come as the US voices alarm over China’s growing nuclear arsenal.
At the one-day talks in Washington, which come after Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Yi’s visit, no significant progress was anticipated.
“We have continually called on the PRC to substantively engage on arms control issues and reducing strategic risk,” State Department Spokesman Mr. Vedant Patel stated, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“This engagement will continue efforts to responsibly manage the relationship and ensure competition does not veer into conflict,” Mr. Patel added.
President Mr. Joe Biden is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Mr. Xi Jinping next week on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco in the first meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies in a year.
Mr. Sun Xiaobo, the Director General of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s arms control department, and Mr. Mallory Stewart, the US Assistant Secretary of State for arms control, verification, and compliance, were holding talks on the last day.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mr. Weng Wenbin remarked that “the two sides will exchange views on a wide range of issues such as the implementation of international arms control treaties and non-proliferation.”
The Pentagon in a congressionally mandated report last month pointed out that China was developing its nuclear arsenal faster than the US expected.
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