US condemns China’s decision to suspend nuclear nonproliferation and arms control negotiations

The United States on Wednesday condemned China’s decision to suspend negotiations with the United States on nuclear nonproliferation and arms control in response to US arms sales to Taiwan. “China has chosen to follow Russia in emphasizing that the commitment to arms control cannot be sustained when there are other challenges to the bilateral relationship,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a press briefing. In this sense, he stressed that this approach “undermines strategic stability,” while “also increases the risk of an arms race dynamic.” He added: “We have made efforts to strengthen the defense of our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region, and we will continue to do so in the face of Chinese threats to their security.” This comes after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the previous day that Washington “ignored China’s firm opposition and repeated complaints and continued to sell arms to Taiwan.” He noted that these “negative actions” caused “serious damage” to China’s interests. Last week, the Asian giant announced a package of sanctions against several US military companies for selling arms to Taiwan, specifically against six companies: Anduril Industries, Maritime Tactical Systems, Pacific Rim Defense, AEVES Aerospace, LKD Aerospace, and Summit Technologies.