“Presumably it means that they are interested in negotiating some kind of strategic arms ceilings with China. If so, the Obama administration is likely to run up against the longstanding Chinese position that the US and Russia must first radically reduce the tens of thousands of warheads in their arsenals below 1,000 on each side before China will even consider joining such negotiations,” he said.
Beijing has 400-plus nuclear warheads but only several dozen deployed on its 30-plus intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Shambaugh said that China was hoping the US arms sale to Taiwan will not go through.
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