China: Washington Must Stop Undermining Nuclear Disarmament Efforts

The United States must stop “undermining international efforts to strengthen the nuclear disarmament process and the non-proliferation regime.” This way the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC is responding to accusations by Pranay Vaddi, senior director of the US National Security Council, that China, Russia, and North Korea have shown “little or no interest in arms control.”

“The United States, which possesses the world’s largest and most advanced nuclear arsenal, has withdrawn from international arms control treaties and organizations, strengthened the NATO nuclear alliance, and expanded military technology cooperation with allies,” the Chinese Embassy wrote in a press release. According to the Chinese diplomatic mission, “instead of criticizing others, Washington should reduce the role of atomic weapons in national and collective security policy and act responsibly for the benefit of the entire world.”

At the annual meeting of the Arms Control Association, the group that advocates limiting nuclear weapons, Vaddi said that “the United States may be forced to increase and strengthen its nuclear arsenal if the nuclear strategy of China and Russia does not change.”

“In the absence of a change in the trajectory of enemy arsenals in the coming years, we may reach a point where an increase in the number of deployed units over the current number is required, and we must be fully prepared to implement that if the President of the United States makes that decision,” the Security Council spokesman stressed.