China’s Foreign Ministry has declined to participate in negotiations between the United States and Russia on reducing nuclear warheads.
“It is neither reasonable nor realistic to ask China to join the US-Russia nuclear disarmament negotiations,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Beijing’s statement is a clear rejection of US President Donald Trump’s remarks suggesting that China be included in denuclearisation talks with Russia.
"The nuclear forces of China and the United States are not at the same level at all, and the strategic security environment and nuclear policies of the two countries are totally different," Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said.
Trump said on Monday that he wants to open denuclearisation talks with Russia and China, revisiting an issue he previously raised as he also seeks to restart stalled diplomacy with North Korea.
"I think the denuclearisation is a very — it's a big aim, but Russia is willing to do it, and I think China is going to be willing to do it too. We can't let nuclear weapons proliferate. We have to stop nuclear weapons. The power is too great," Trump said.
‘In five years, China will catch US’
Trump said he raised the denuclearisation issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin but refrained from sharing details of their meeting.
"China is way behind, but they'll catch us in five years. We would like to denuclearise. It's too much power, and we talked about that also," Trump said.
Newly released research shows China is increasing its nuclear stockpile faster than any other country.
According to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China now holds at least 600 nuclear warheads. The US is holding 3,748 nuclear warheads, according to the US Department of Energy’s 2023 numbers.
Trump had first laid out his intention to pursue nuclear arms control efforts in February, saying he wanted to begin discussions with both Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping about imposing limits on their arsenals.
The renewed focus on nuclear arms control comes as the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, is set to expire on February 5, 2026.
The treaty, signed in 2010, is the last remaining nuclear arms agreement between the US and Russia and limits the number of strategic warheads and delivery systems each side can deploy.
