Can the US, Russia and China break their nuclear talks impasse?
With a key US-Russia arms treaty due to expire in February, the world is at risk of entering a new era of strategic instability, analysts warn
Trump’s subsequent push for trilateral “denuclearisation” talks involving China elicited a firm refusal from Beijing, underscoring challenges to extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) amid fears of a fresh nuclear arms race, analysts said.
Following the summit, Beijing, with its long-standing policy of “no first use” and a nuclear strategy rooted in self defence, spurned Trump’s proposal, with Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun calling it “neither reasonable nor realistic”.
For decades, China has stated it maintains its nuclear strength at the minimum level required by national security and that it never engages in an arms race with anyone.