U.S. and China Began Nuclear Weapons Talks After 5 Years

The U.S. and China have resumed semi-official nuclear weapons talks for the first time in five years.

According to the news agency Reuters, U.S. negotiators expressed their concerns that if China faced defeat in the Taiwan conflict, it might use nuclear weapons or threaten to do so. In response, Chinese representatives assured them that they would not take such action.

David Santoro, the American coordinator of the Track II talks, said that China told the U.S. that they are fully confident they can achieve victory in a conventional fight against Taiwan without using nuclear weapons.

Participants in Track II negotiations are usually former officials and academics who can speak with full authority on their government's stance, whereas official negotiations between the two governments are referred to as Track I.

In the two-day discussions held in a Shanghai hotel newsroom, the Washington delegation consisted of about half a dozen representatives, including former officials and scholars.

The Beijing delegation was composed of academics and analysts, including several former officers of the People's Liberation Army.

A State Department spokesperson told Reuters in response to their questions that Track II talks can be beneficial.

The spokesperson said that although the State Department was aware of the meeting held in March, they did not participate in it.

Informal talks between the two nuclear-armed powers took place amid significant economic and geopolitical disputes, with leaders of both countries accusing each other of ill intentions.

Both countries attempted to resume Track I negotiations on nuclear weapons in November, but those talks stalled.

The Pentagon estimates that China has increased its nuclear weapons by more than 20% between 2021 and 2023.

In a statement released in October, the U.S. said that in the event of a conventional military defeat in Taiwan and a threat to the Chinese Communist Party's rule, China might resort to using nuclear weapons.

The Track II talks are part of ongoing two-decade-long negotiations on nuclear weapons and currency, which had been stalled since the Trump administration stopped funding them in 2019.