Image Credit: JONATHAN ERNST / Contributor / Getty 
Following the sunset of the New START nuclear treaty on February 5th, President Donald Trump declared his administration will draft a new and improved international agreement to limit country’s nuclear weapon arsenals (including that of the U.S.). On Wednesday Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that any future treaty must include China as a signatory, not just the U.S. and Russia, like New START. Trump has repeatedly championed an agenda of global denuclearization numerous times, including after he assumed office for his second term.
“We think ultimately, in the 21st century, for there to be a true arms control agreement it has to involve China,” Rubio said Wednesday. “The President strongly believes that for any nuclear agreement in the 21st century to be legitimate, it has to involve these three countries.”
The Secretary of State acknowledged that while China’s current arsenal is much smaller than the U.S. and Russia’s, Beijing “certainly has the capacity to catch up and are well on their way to doing so.”
When asked how Washington could compel Beijing to become a signatory to a future nuclear treaty, Rubio said “we can’t compel them,” also saying that if China refuses “then we may not have a deal.”
While there is no “gentlemen’s agreement” in place between Washington and Moscow to limit nuclear weapon limits following the sunset of New START, Vice President JD Vance confirmed Washington is in talks with Moscow, evidently behind the scenes:
“@VP on New START: ‘I think for the American people, this is the worst thing that can happen, is more and more regimes across the world getting nuclear weapons. The START treaty is an important part of that. It’s going to change compared to where it was, and that’s part of the negotiation that we’re going that we’re engaging in with the Russians’,” Nick Schifrin, foreign affairs and defense correspondent at News Hour said.
It is likely the inclusion of Beijing is necessary due to the Asian nation’s rapid military buildup, and the country’s so-far-failed attempt at a Sino-World-Order (The Chinese Century). Compelling China to limit their nuclear arsenal will also be particularly important if Washington is ever able to achieve a Russia/China split on the geopolitical grand chessboard.
Trump’s past statements indicate he is likely aware of the true scale of modern nuclear weapons.
On October 30 President Trump announced the United States will resume nuclear weapons testing. Currently the U.S. is banned from conducting all but underground nuclear weapons testing under the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. A 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty would also ban underground testing, although it is not entered into force. China has recently become belligerent on the topic of denuclearization, Trump’s announcement came just hours before he met with the country’s leader Xi Jinping.
The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years. Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
“The New START Treaty entered into force on February 5, 2011. Under the treaty, the United States and the Russian Federation had seven years to meet the treaty’s central limits on strategic offensive arms (by February 5, 2018) and are then obligated to maintain those limits for as long as the treaty remains in force,” the State Department said.
The New START treaty limited the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia:
Aggregate Limits
Both the United States and the Russian Federation met the central limits of the New START Treaty by February 5, 2018, and have stayed at or below them ever since. Those limits are:
- 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and deployed heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments;
- 1,550 nuclear warheads on deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs, and deployed heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments (each such heavy bomber is counted as one warhead toward this limit);
- 800 deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers, and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments.
RT detailed the Russia/China side of the nuclear debate:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has since pledged to prioritize the development of Moscow’s nuclear triad, describing it as an “unconditional priority” that “guarantees Russia’s security and enables us to effectively ensure strategic deterrence.”
At the same time, the Kremlin has stressed it has no intention of being the first to escalate, provided the U.S. takes the same approach.
Commenting to RT on the status of US talks with Russia and China on a potential New START follow-on treaty, China’s disarmament delegation in Geneva said the U.S., as a nuclear-weapon state with the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, should shoulder its “special and primary responsibility” for nuclear disarmament.
“This is the international consensus,” the delegation said, adding that there are currently no negotiations between Beijing and Washington.
