00:00Just days after a major U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty expired,
00:22one country is making it very clear it will not come to the table.
00:26China has flatly rejected calls to join talks on a new nuclear arms agreement,
00:33a decision that could reshape global nuclear politics for decades.
00:38The deal that expired this week had limited how many nuclear warheads the United States and Russia could deploy.
00:47For years, it was one of the last pillars holding back a full-scale arms race.
00:53Now, that pillar is gone.
00:56Washington wants a new agreement, one that includes China.
01:02Beijing says not yet.
01:05China's reasoning is strategic and calculated.
01:09Officials argue their nuclear arsenal is a minimum deterrent, far smaller than those of the U.S. or Russia.
01:17In their view, joining talks now would lock China into limits while the two superpowers keep thousands more warheads.
01:27Beijing insists the U.S. and Russia must cut first. Only then would multilateral talks make sense.
01:35But there is more happening beneath the surface.
01:41Since 2023, Xi Jinping has accelerated China's nuclear expansion, adding around 100 warheads every year.
01:50This rapid buildup is tied directly to tensions over Taiwan and what China sees as U.S. military encirclement in the Indo-Pacific.
02:01Joining a treaty now could cap that expansion. And that is something Beijing is not willing to risk.
02:08At the same time, China denies it is in an arms race at all.
02:14It calls for all nuclear powers to adopt a no-first-use policy, a proposal the U.S. and Russia have rejected.
02:22Analysts say Beijing views trilateral talks as a U.S. strategy to shift blame, not a serious path to disarmament.
02:34This stance comes as China faces troubling internal issues.
02:40Since 2023, Xi has launched sweeping purges inside the PLA rocket force, the unit responsible for nuclear missiles.
02:48Top commanders were removed, defense industry executives fired, and by 2025, even senior military leaders were investigated for disloyalty and leaking sensitive information.
03:04U.S. intelligence revealed shocking failures. Missiles filled with water instead of fuel, silo lids that could not open, all linked to deep corruption.
03:16The Pentagon warned, these problems raised serious questions about China's nuclear readiness.
03:23Xi responded by tightening control, visiting a rocket force brigade in 2024, and demanding deterrence, preparedness, and loyalty.
03:33The message was clear. Weakness will not be tolerated.
03:39For the United States, this is exactly why China must be included.
03:45Washington warns China's nuclear arsenal is growing faster than any other country, pushing the world from a bipolar system into a dangerous tripolar one.
03:56U.S. officials say real arms control in the 21st century is impossible without China, especially as its stockpile could match U.S. and Russian levels by the mid-2030s.
04:11So what does this mean for China?
04:14Refusing talks allows unchecked growth, stronger deterrence, and more leverage in a Taiwan scenario.
04:20But it also risks triggering a new global arms race, inviting U.S. and Russian expansions, and escalating tensions even further.
04:30With internal purges still underway, China's nuclear ambitions are growing fast, but questions about readiness remain.
04:41The world is entering a new nuclear era, without clear rules, without trust, and without limits.
04:49And China's decision may shape what comes next.
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