On August 27, Gao Jiakun, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held a regular press conference. A reporter from RIA Novosti asked, President Donald Trump previously stated that the United States and Russia are discussing the issue of reducing nuclear arsenals and hope to involve China in this process. Is China willing to participate in trilateral negotiations on nuclear arms reduction?

"We have noted the relevant reports," Gao Jiakun said. The countries with the largest nuclear arsenals should genuinely fulfill their special and priority responsibility for nuclear disarmament, further significantly and substantially reduce their nuclear arsenals, and create conditions for the ultimate realization of comprehensive and thorough nuclear disarmament.

Gao Jiakun pointed out that the nuclear forces of China and the United States are not on the same level, and the nuclear policies, strategies, and security environments of the two countries are completely different. It is neither reasonable nor realistic to require China to join the trilateral nuclear disarmament talks between the United States, China, and Russia.

"China adheres to a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons and maintains a defensive nuclear strategy. It always keeps its nuclear forces at the minimum level necessary for national security and does not engage in any nuclear arms race. China's nuclear forces and nuclear policy are an important contribution to world peace," he said.

Regarding the so-called issue of "China joining the U.S.-Russia nuclear disarmament process," China had already expressed its position at an informal meeting of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in 2019:

China has always unswervingly pursued a path of peaceful development and adhered to a defensive national defense policy. China's defense spending is reasonable and moderate, and its nuclear forces have always been maintained at the minimum level necessary for national security. Compared with those of the United States and Russia, they are not on the same scale, and the situations are completely different. China opposes any country using China as an excuse in the issue of arms control. It has no intention and no need to join the U.S.-Russia nuclear disarmament negotiations. The United States and Russia, as the countries with the largest nuclear arsenals, should genuinely fulfill their special and priority responsibility for nuclear disarmament in accordance with the long-standing consensus of the international community. They should continue to further significantly and substantially reduce their nuclear arsenals, creating conditions and an environment for other nuclear-armed states to join the multilateral nuclear disarmament process.

At that time, Zhou Bo, former director of the Office of International Military Cooperation under the Ministry of National Defense and researcher at the Center for Strategic and Security Studies at Tsinghua University, wrote that due to China's commitment to not using nuclear weapons first and maintaining a lean and effective nuclear deterrent, it must possess a large number of land-based intermediate-range missiles to achieve strategic balance with other nuclear powers. In other words, if China reduces the number of its land-based intermediate-range missiles, which are restricted by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, it would have to significantly enhance its nuclear strike capability. For the West, weighing these two "evils," which one is lighter?

China has not remained indifferent to nuclear disarmament. In 1994, China submitted a draft to the other four countries in the nuclear club at the time—France, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom—on the non-first-use of nuclear weapons. After India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998, China and the United States agreed not to target each other's nuclear missiles. Other nuclear-armed countries followed suit in 2000.

Zhou Bo questioned, do we really need to sign another ineffective nuclear disarmament treaty as suggested by President Trump?

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7543185770451059250/

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