China backtracks and cancels arms talks with US

China considers the island of Taiwan to be part of its territory, while the island claims to be an independent territory. The United States and China have long disputed sovereignty over the island, but until now they were negotiating an agreement on conventional arms sales, as the United States sold weapons to Taiwan. However, on Wednesday (17), China announced that it was canceling these agreements, in response to continued arms sales, and reiterated that it will not give up the territory, even if it has to use force.

Negotiations remain at a standstill

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_{Illustration of the United States and China compete in a tug of war (Photo: reproduction/Wenjin chen/Getty Images Embed)}

According to a White House source, all of this happened because China had not responded to US proposals to reduce risks between the two. In return, as an excuse, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lian Jian said: “The US continues its arms sales to Taiwan and undertakes a series of negative actions that seriously harm China's core interests and undermine mutual political trust.” Both maintain distrust of each other, especially due to reports that China is developing a private arsenal of nuclear weapons to anticipate US actions.

Nuclear Powers Report

SIPRI’s annual report published last month, which analyzed trends in the nine countries with nuclear weapons, described a scenario in which the total number of nuclear warheads ready for use continues to increase, partly due to the increase in the Chinese arsenal. The case of China exemplifies the high level of tension between nuclear powers in recent months. According to the report, nuclear weapons have once again played a central role in international relations, something not seen to such an extent since the Cold War.

Featured photo: US President and Chinese President (Reproduction/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Getty Images Embed)