US-China First High-Level Military Talks, Nuclear Disarmament Approach, North Korea Nuclear ‘Connection’
As the US and China approach nuclear disarmament talks, the progress in negotiations between President Biden and President Xi Jinping shows a connection to the North Korea nuclear talks.
Reuters reported on the 29th that White House National Security Adviser Sullivan had an unusual conversation with China’s key military adviser, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Zhang Youxia, before meeting with President Xi Jinping during his visit to China.
In another article, Reuters said, “A senior Biden administration official said the US is pressuring China to break its longstanding resistance to nuclear arms talks and said there is a ‘limited opportunity’ in early two-way talks on the superpower’s approach to the issue,” adding, “The resumption of US nuclear talks with China comes as US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with senior Chinese officials in Beijing to try to resolve differences on a wide range of issues.”
Reuters reported that Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia “is said by Western and Asian diplomats to be more powerful than the Chinese defense minister, who meets with foreign officials more frequently,” and that “Advisor Sullivan urged strengthening working-level communication between the two militaries during the first meeting between Vice Chairman Zhang and Biden administration officials.”
In the bilateral meeting, Vice Chairman Zhang told Advisor Sullivan that “the request to meet with me demonstrates the value the U.S. government places on military security and military-to-military relations,” and Advisor Sullivan told Advisor Zhang that “both countries have a responsibility to prevent competition from escalating into conflict or confrontation,” and “given the global situation and the need for us to manage U.S.-China relations responsibly, I think this is a very important meeting.”
“There was more progress on military ties,” Reuters reported of the first military talks between the US and China, saying Sullivan met with Xi’s top military adviser, and the two sides agreed that leaders of the US Indo-Pacific Command would soon have a telephone conversation with their counterparts at China’s Southern Theater Command, which oversees the South China Sea.
US military officials have long been eager for deeper working-level engagement amid regional disputes with China and an expansion of troop presence across East Asia, and a senior US official told Reuters that differences with China over disputed shoals with US treaty ally the Philippines in the South China Sea are likely to be managed rather than resolved “in the near future.”
Sullivan met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the 29th before Wang’s meeting, which Reuters described as a “constructive dialogue.” The White House said in a press release that Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Sullivan that "the key to the smooth development of China-U.S. relations lies in treating each other as equals," and that the two had "frank, substantive, and constructive discussions." White House Press Secretary Sean Sabet said on the same day, "We will continue to work to reduce nuclear risks by strengthening deterrence, and we prefer to resolve differences through arms control diplomacy."
An anonymous U.S. official told Reuters that the scope of the U.S.-China talks could be narrow at first, unlike previous arms control talks between the U.S. and Russia, and that there is no need for them to be discussing arms control reductions like the New START Treaty between the U.S. and Russia.
The nuclear disarmament talks between the U.S. and China are approaching the “control of nuclear arsenals” that the Cold War agreements between the U.S. and the U.S. had agreed to, rather than the “limitation of existing strategic nuclear weapons” that had been in place between the two countries.
“We will talk about risk reduction measures that both sides can take to reduce the possibility of catastrophic miscalculations,” the official said. “The fact that that doesn’t happen is not good for the world, and we will continue to strengthen that.”
The Biden administration updated its classified nuclear guidelines this year, and the White House press secretary frequently expressed concerns about the nuclear weapons of China, North Korea, and Russia, and said the updated classified nuclear guidelines were “not a response to a single entity, country, or threat,” raising the possibility of “integrated nuclear deterrence negotiations” between China and North Korea.
The United States began nuclear deterrence talks with China in November last year, but in July this year, China declared a “suspended dialogue” on arms sales to Taiwan.
Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a regular news briefing on July 17 that “in recent months, the repeated arms sales by the United States to Taiwan have seriously damaged the political atmosphere for continuing arms control consultations,” and that “as a result, the Chinese side has decided to postpone discussions with the United States on new talks on arms control and nuclear non-proliferation. The responsibility for this lies entirely with the United States.”
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