China implies US hypocrisy over nuclear disarmament

BEIJING, Dec 23 (Reuters) - China on ⁠Tuesday urged the ⁠United States ‍to fulfil its nuclear disarmament responsibilities after a draft Pentagon report said China was likely to have loaded more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles ‍in sites near the Mongolian border and showed no desire for arms ​control talks.

"As a super nuclear power with the largest nuclear arsenal, the most urgent task for the U.S. ​is to earnestly fulfil the special and priority responsibility for nuclear disarmament," Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a regular press conference in Beijing.

The U.S. should "substantially reduce its nuclear arsenal ​to create conditions for other nuclear-weapon states to join the nuclear disarmament process," Lin added.

In a draft report seen by Reuters, the Pentagon said China had probably ​installed more than 100 solid-fuelled DF-31 ICBMs in the three silo fields close to Mongolia. The Bulletin of the Atomic ‌Scientists, a Chicago-based non-profit, has said China is expanding and modernising its weapons stockpile faster than any other nuclear-armed power.

"We continue to see ​no appetite from Beijing for pursuing such measures ⁠or more comprehensive arms control discussions," the report said.

U.S. President Donald Trump signalled last month that he might be working on a plan ‌to denuclearise with China and Russia.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said he was not aware of the Pentagon report, but said "similar hypes" had been seen from the U.S. before.

"It aims to find excuses ‌for accelerating its own nuclear forces' modernisation and actions disrupting global strategic stability," Lin added.

Beijing had embarked ‌on a rapid and sustained increase in the size and capability of its nuclear forces, U.S. analysts said.

China's nuclear warhead stockpile was still in the low 600s in 2024, which reflected "a slower rate ‍of production when compared to previous years," according to the Pentagon report.

But China was on track to have more than 1,000 warheads ⁠by 2030, it added.

The U.S. is estimated to hold around 5,177 nuclear warheads.

"China firmly adheres to a no-first-use nuclear weapons policy and upholds a nuclear strategy of self-defence," Lin said.

China "does not engage in nuclear arms races with any country."

(Reporting by Joe Cash; Writing by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Kate Mayberry)

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