Xi Jinping Resisting Nuclear Talks, Says US: 'Don't Need To Repeat' 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

Xi Jinping-led China has shown no interest in discussing steps to reduce the risk posed by nuclear weapons, senior U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

What Happened: U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance Alexandra Bell told an Atlantic Council that despite Washington's efforts, Beijing has still not begun engagement on the nuclear talks, reported Reuters. 

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China is undergoing a major expansion of its nuclear forces and is moving toward having 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Xi's government has long resisted arms control talks with the U.S., saying Washington already has a much larger arsenal.

"We're now at the 60th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis. We don't need to repeat that to know that we need to be at the table having conversations with each other," Bell said while referring to the 1962 events of the Cuban missile crisis 60 years ago.

He added that the U.S. initially would like to have talks with China about "each other's doctrines, about crisis communication, crisis management." 

The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy Richard Johnson told the forum that the U.S. is "not asking to have a discussion about numbers. We're saying, let's talk about putting some guardrails into the relationship so that we don't have unnecessary crises."

He said if Beijing preferred not to engage bilaterally, it could demonstrate some transparency. "The Chinese have stopped doing that, and that's a real concern."

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