(CLO) China has expressed support for US President Donald Trump's proposal to cut military spending, stressing that the US, as the country with the world's largest defense budget, should take the lead in this.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun stressed that the United States and Russia hold more than 90 percent of the global nuclear arsenal. He called on the two countries to "seriously fulfill their responsibility to reduce nuclear weapons and create conditions for other countries to participate in nuclear disarmament."
Mr. Guo also pointed out that the US accounts for about 40% of the world's total military spending, with this year's defense budget reaching $895 billion. "If the US truly supports the 'America First' policy, it should take the lead in cutting military spending," he stressed.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun at a press conference in Beijing, China. Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry
A day earlier, Mr. Trump called on the US, China and Russia to negotiate to reduce defense spending and nuclear arsenals, stressing that there was “no reason” for the US to continue spending nearly $1,000 billion on defense as it is now. He said that this reduction should be made “once everything is stable.”
Mr. Trump's proposal is surprising in the context that China is accelerating its military modernization to cope with the US's capabilities, while Russia withdrew from the New START treaty in 2022 after escalating tensions with the West due to the Ukraine crisis.
The US sees China as its top strategic challenge, while Beijing is expanding its nuclear arsenal to achieve its goal of building a military on par with Washington by 2049. The Pentagon now estimates that China possesses more than 600 nuclear warheads, up 100 from its previous forecast.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia currently has the world's largest nuclear arsenal with 5,580 warheads, the US is second with 5,044 warheads, while China is third. Beijing maintains a no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons and has called on other nuclear powers to make similar commitments.
In his speech on Thursday, Mr Trump stressed that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on the need to reduce nuclear weapons. He questioned the reason for continuing to build nuclear weapons when the current arsenal is “enough to destroy the world many times over”.
Ngoc Anh (according to Global Times, Newsweek, NDTV)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/trung-quoc-ung-ho-de-xuat-cat-giam-chi-tieu-quan-su-va-vu-khi-hat-nhan-cua-my-post334617.html
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