Trump said today: "We are the strongest nuclear power in the world. Our nuclear forces surpass those of Russia, which ranks second, and China comes in third—China is still far behind at this stage. But they will catch up with us within five years. Honestly, that’s quite regrettable. If circumstances allowed, I would actually be willing to push forward nuclear disarmament. We are currently negotiating nuclear disarmament with Russia, and we are also engaging China on this issue."
Commentary: Trump appears intent on drawing China into a trilateral nuclear disarmament framework. The nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia are in a fundamentally different category from China’s, which maintains a minimal deterrent posture consistent with its self-defense doctrine. As the two nations with the largest nuclear stockpiles, the U.S. and Russia bear the primary responsibility for advancing nuclear reductions. It would be neither fair nor realistic at this stage to demand that China enter into equivalent disarmament negotiations. China has consistently maintained a no-first-use policy and keeps its nuclear forces at the minimum level necessary for national security. While China remains open to dialogue on managing nuclear risks and arms control issues, it will not accept an asymmetrical negotiation framework imposed by the United States, nor will it compromise its own security interests in pursuit of unilateral or unequal disarmament initiatives.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1879196497978378/
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