WASHINGTON: The United States and China have held rare discussion on nuclear arms control, a new step to reduce mistrust before expected presidential summit next week, Western media reported on Monday.
The discussion is the first on nuclear arms between the two countries since president Barack Obama’s administration voiced alarm over China’s growing nuclear arsenal.
No breakthroughs are expected at the one-day talks in Washington, which is followed by the visit of Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that the engagement will continue efforts to manage the relationship and ensure competition does not turn into conflict.
President Joe Biden is likely to hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next week on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco. This would be the second meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies in a year.
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Monday’s talks were held between Mallory Stewart, the US assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification and compliance, and Sun Xiaobo, the director general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s arms control department.
Two sides to discuss arms control treaties, non-proliferation
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Weng Wenbin in Beijing said 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.
Last month Pentagon in a congressionally mandated report claimed that China was developing its nuclear arsenal more quickly than the United States earlier estimated.
It said that China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and is likely to have more than 1,000 by 2030.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute the United States currently possesses about 3,700 nuclear warheads.
Earlier, former president Donald Trump’s administration, voiced concern about China’s growing arsenal.
