U.S. Rejects Chinese No-First-Use Nuke Plan
A Chinese proposal submitted to the United Nations last month calling on all nations to adopt Beijing’s questionable “no first use” nuclear weapons policy is a nonstarter for the United States.
A State Department official told Inside the Ring that the no-first-use policy would be unacceptable given China’s massive nuclear weapons buildup and its refusal to join U.S. arms talks.
“The PRC’s rapid and opaque buildup of a more flexible nuclear arsenal calls into question the objectives behind its no-first-use proposal,” the official said, speaking on background and using the abbreviation for People’s Republic of China. “[China’s] refusal to engage in meaningful bilateral or multilateral discussions on arms control and risk reduction, including on questions about the PRC’s stated no-first-use policy, reinforces these concerns.”
The proposal was introduced in a U.N. preparatory meeting in Geneva from July 22 to Aug. 2 in advance of a major 2026 review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In a working paper by the Chinese government, President Xi Jinping describes nuclear arms as a “sword of Damocles” threatening humanity. All nuclear weapons should be “completely banned” in pursuit of a nuclear-free world, he said. (Read more from “U.S. Rejects Chinese No-First-Use Nuke Plan” HERE)
