Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday called on the US and Russia to reduce their nuclear arsenals during the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
While Washington is constantly hyping up China’s nuclear arsenal, it is only a fraction of what the US and Russia possess. Estimates on the higher-end put China’s nuclear stockpile at 350 warheads. Russia has about 6,350 warheads, while the US has 5,800.
Despite the numbers, the US complains that Beijing does not want to enter arms control talks. But China has no motivation to do so unless the US and Russia make an effort to reduce their arsenals. Regardless, the US continues to blame the issue on China.
“To date, China has rebuffed US efforts to initiate bilateral talks on risk reduction and strategic stability,” Robert Wood, the US ambassador for disarmament, said at the conference.
Besides having way more nuclear weapons than Beijing, the US is also encircling China with military hardware. The US has plans to deploy medium-range missiles near China that were previously banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which the US withdrew from in 2019.
Wang took a shot at the US for its plans to further militarize Asia. “China opposes the development and deployment of regional and global missile defense systems by a certain country that undermine strategic stability, and China opposes the deployment of land-based intermediate-range ballistic missiles by the same country in the neighborhood of other countries,” he said.
That looks unlikely.
All the other five main nuclear powers are developing their arsenals. And while Washington and Moscow have returned to New START, ominously there is no talk of going back to the INF or halting production of low-yield nuclear warheads. World leaders are slowly but surely blindly drifting towards global catastrophe, ignoring the warnings from history.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
Under President Obama we initiated an upgrade of our arsenal over ten years, at a cost of $1 TRILLION.
Under President Obama we initiated an upgrade of our arsenal over ten years, at a cost of $1 TRILLION.
Obama led the way on all these things, nukes, Pivot to assault China, more wars. And so much more. Biggest piece of hypocrisy ever to haunt the WH – and the competition is stiff for that.
Trojan Whore(s) too…?????
Good one!
This Antiwar piece has a link at today’s Naked Capitalism. Oddly enough, it comes with a note saying Twitter has labeled this “sensitive content”. What’s that?
Very odd.
China seems to have appreciated that it is a good idea to build a few more nukes of its own. (obviously the US has zero interest in cutting its arsenal, and Japan also looms on the horizon)
China Is Building Two Secret Nuclear Reactors. Scientists Are Worried
It’s a shame they feel the need to do this, but under the circumstances I can hardly blame them.
Russia may decide not to reduce it’s nuclear warhead capacity. The USA has been seeking first strike capability with Anti Ballistic Missile locations on regions bordering Russia to target vulnerable launch phase retaliation after such a first strike.
With the rhetoric coming from the DC on Russia, Russia, Russia…… The world is more dangerous because of DC voices.
US sources were openly talking of achieving nuclear primacy just 15 years ago. Obviously, Russia was having none of that.
The idea is that the US could destroy all or most of the retaliatory capability of Russia (or China) in a massive first-strike and any remaining deterrent could be mopped up by ABM systems near their borders.
The arms control the US seeks is not actually about nuclear weapons. It is about “medium-range missiles.”
The fear is of conventional weapons that could attack Taiwan’s airports and harbors, closing its economy in an effective blockade, and shutting down much of its defensive ability.