China stated that it would like to join trilateral nuclear arms control talks with the US and Russia, however, under the condition that the US significantly reduces its nuclear arsenal. China requested that the US’s arsenal should closely match China’s own level, according to a senior Chinese diplomat on Wednesday. China currently has far fewer nuclear weapons than both the US and Russia, with the latter having at least 5,000 nuclear warheads each.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China only has about 320 nuclear warheads, meaning that the US would essentially be required to eliminate more than 4,500 warheads from its arsenal to match China. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly asked China to join the control negotiations between the US and Russia, however, China stated that this was out of the question while its own arsenal is comparatively small.
Read More: China says it won’t join nuclear talks until the US reduces its arsenal
