Resumption of US-China talks on nuclear arms is a step in right direction
- Meeting between China and the US is not only about avoiding doomsday, but a show of joint leadership that can bring a troubled world to a better place
China and the United States may be the biggest nuclear powers along with Russia but, thanks to bilateral tensions, they have not discussed arms control and non-proliferation since 2019.
Such worrying lack of dialogue on nuclear security will be put right at a meeting this week.
The two sides are unlikely to reach any agreements. But that they are talking again is positive for understanding and transparency in managing the risks of conflict or accident.
It is a significant example of the widening thaw in bilateral relations ahead of a summit between presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Apec meeting beginning this weekend.
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The Chinese delegation to the nuclear talks in Washington will be led by foreign ministry arms control official Sun Xiaobo. The US is expected to be represented by Mallory Stewart, the assistant secretary of state for arms control.
It is part of a series of meetings agreed after last week’s talks between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Russia and the US once had regular arms control talks that helped manage risk during the Cold War. The Cold War may be over but more countries are now nuclear-armed.
Russia has pulled back from arms control with the US, and Washington, concerned with China’s attempt to catch up with the big two nuclear powers, is eager to engage with Beijing.
The reopening of this dialogue is important for both sides to build mutual trust and increase transparency. China’s position is that it is a comparatively small nuclear player in terms of number of warheads and that it would use them only in retaliatory self-defence.
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While the negotiations may not change much, they can be instrumental in reducing mistrust, suspicion and excessive competition.
More importantly, the re-engagement of the world’s two biggest economies is not limited to nuclear arms talks. They are just one of many examples over the past two weeks; climate change and global governance of artificial intelligence among them.
What sets Sino-US talks on these issues apart is not only that they are ones on which the two sides need to work together, but they are equally important to all other countries. They are opportunities for China and the US to demonstrate global responsibility and leadership.
If they can make progress not only on bilateral but global issues this sends a positive message that is symbolically important. Already the two sides are engaging more bilaterally, with the US sending a large delegation to China’s biggest trade expo.
It is to be hoped that when Xi and Biden meet on the sidelines of Apec they will have some concrete results to show the world, not only on global issues but also on bilateral relations, which are paramount to effective wider global leadership.
