China Ices Nuclear Arms Talks on Taipei Arms Sales

In his weekly news confwerence, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian reiterated China's refusal to engage in nuclear nonproliferation discussions in light of arms sales to Taipei.   

China News Service: In November 2023, China and the US held consultations on arms control and non-proliferation in Washington DC. During the past few weeks, some US senior official accused China of declining a new round of consultations with the US and not providing a substantive response to the suggestions that the US put forward. What’s China’s comment?

Lin Jian: Over the past weeks and months, despite China’s firm opposition and repeated protest, the US has continued to sell arms to Taiwan and done things that severely undermine China’s core interests and the mutual trust between China and the US.

This has seriously compromised the political atmosphere for continuing the arms control consultations. Consequently, the Chinese side has decided to hold off discussion with the US on a new round of consultations on arms control and non-proliferation.

The responsibility fully lies with the US.

China stands ready to maintain communication with the US on international arms control in line with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, but the US must respect China’s core interests and create necessary conditions for dialogue and exchange.