US dismisses Chinese proposal for no-first-use treaty between nuclear-armed states
US nuclear weapons test in Nevada in 1953
THE US has dismissed Chinese calls for a no-first-use treaty between nuclear weapons states, saying it has questions about its sincerity.
US Undersecretary of State Bonnie Jenkins, the country’s top arms control official, told the Senate foreign relations committee on Wednesday night that the US worried China had increased its number of nuclear warheads to over 500, might have 1,000 by 2030, and that this undermined its treaty proposal.
The figures are speculative, based on US government estimates and not acknowledged by China.
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