Top nuclear power obliged to cut its arsenal: China Daily editorial

The specter of nuclear weapons remains one of the most daunting challenges to global peace and security, with recent developments casting a glaring spotlight on the United States. The country's irresponsible actions, including its refusal to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty after its expiration early this month, threaten to dismantle decades of progress in nuclear nonproliferation.

Yet in order to justify its reneging on nuclear nonproliferation commitments, the US has made unfounded accusations against China regarding nuclear testing to pave the way for its own resumption of nuclear tests. "Because of other countries' testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis," the US leader said last October in a post on his Truth Social site. "That process will begin immediately."

US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno, too, made unwarranted remarks at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva recently, accusing China of having conducted a nuclear explosive test in June 2020. This prompted Robert Floyd, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, to clarify in a statement that the International Monitoring System of the organization did not detect any event consistent with the characteristics of a nuclear weapon test explosion at that time.

The remarks made by the US in regard to nuclear testing are nothing but lies told to serve the country's own dangerous agenda at the cost of other nations' security and global stability.

The baseless claims that China is conducting "covert" nuclear tests serve as a pretext for the US to abandon a moratorium on nuclear testing it has upheld since 1992.

As Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian pointed out, the US' distortion and slander of China's nuclear policy are essentially "political manipulation", through which it aims to evade its own nuclear disarmament responsibilities. In fact, it is the US that is "the biggest source of disruption to both the international nuclear order and global strategic stability".

Indeed, the US has consistently undermined international efforts to promote nuclear disarmament. Its reluctance to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, as well as its recent threats to resume testing, stands in stark contrast to the global consensus on the need to prevent nuclear proliferation.

By refusing to adhere to the nonproliferation framework, the US is effectively dismantling the very architecture that has constrained the nuclear threat for decades.

The series of US maneuvers, which portend a significant shift in its nuclear policy, threaten to reignite a nuclear arms race that the world can ill afford. The narrative that the US propagates — of needing to resume testing to match the capabilities of other nations — is not only false and misleading but also dangerous.

The implications of this are profound, as it paves the way for an unrestrained arms buildup, not only by the US, but also by other nuclear powers, thereby increasing the risk of nuclear conflict.

Independent estimates clearly show that the US and Russia possess the largest nuclear arsenals, each having an?inventory?of?around 5,500 nuclear warheads, with China maintaining a significantly smaller stockpile.

Meanwhile, the US has spent trillions of dollars upgrading its nuclear triad and maintains a first-use policy. The country also applies double standard when it comes to nuclear nonproliferation, seriously disrupting global strategic balance and stability. The rhetoric of "nuclear parity" is only a smokescreen designed to obscure the US' true intention of achieving unchallenged nuclear dominance.

The international community must recognize the US' actions for what they are: a strategic ploy to destabilize global security and maintain its hegemony through an arms race it hopes will be debilitating for other countries. This ambition poses a direct threat to the delicate balance of power and undermines the collective efforts of nations committed to peace and security.

It is thus imperative that countries join hands in opposition to the US' actions. Diplomatic efforts should be intensified to hold the US accountable and to reinforce the importance of existing treaties and agreements that promote nuclear disarmament. The international community should also work together to establish new frameworks that address the evolving challenges of nuclear proliferation in the 21st century.

With the US prioritizing national supremacy over global stability, the shadow of nuclear conflict once again threatens to loom over the world. For the world to be free from the fear of nuclear apocalypse, it is crucial for the international community to stand firm in opposing the US' nuclear agenda.