GENEVA: The United States has accused China of rapidly and significantly expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal and urged that Beijing be included in any future arms control agreements.
Speaking at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Christopher Yeaw said the recently expired New START treaty between the United States and Russia was flawed because it did not address China’s growing nuclear capabilities. He claimed China had expanded its arsenal “without transparency” and without clarifying its long-term intentions.
Yeaw also alleged that China may have conducted secret nuclear tests and warned that Beijing could reach nuclear parity with the US and Russia within four to five years.
In response, Chinese Ambassador Shen Jian rejected the accusations, calling them “groundless” and opposing what he described as distortions of China’s nuclear policy.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi warned that any attack on Iran could lead to wider regional escalation. He stated that Iran remains committed to diplomacy but would defend its sovereignty if necessary. He emphasized that meaningful disarmament requires balanced and legally binding commitments from all nuclear-armed states.
The New START treaty, which expired on February 5, had limited the US and Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads each. Both countries are estimated to possess over 5,000 nuclear weapons in total..
