The United States and China have held preliminary discussions about allowing officials from both countries to visit each other’s nuclear facilities, in what could become a confidence-building step between the two nuclear powers.
The discussions were reportedly initiated after China raised the idea with US officials earlier this year. The proposal includes possible visits to US Department of Energy national laboratories and comparable facilities in China.
The talks have largely taken place informally on the sidelines of meetings involving the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, rather than through formal negotiations.
The discussions are still at an early stage, but US officials are expected to continue raising the issue during further meetings with their Chinese counterparts in the coming months.
A key objective would be to allow both sides to gain a better understanding of each other’s nuclear facilities and processes, potentially helping to build trust and reduce the risk of misunderstandings.
The proposal comes as concerns grow over China’s expanding nuclear arsenal. While China has significantly fewer nuclear warheads than the United States and Russia, its nuclear capabilities have been expanding rapidly.
China has previously been reluctant to enter formal negotiations aimed at limiting its nuclear arsenal, arguing that its stockpile remains much smaller than those of Washington and Moscow.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in a trilateral nuclear arms control agreement involving the United States, China and Russia.
Trump raised the idea of such negotiations during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month. However, according to the report, the two leaders did not discuss reciprocal nuclear site visits during that meeting.
The proposed visits could nevertheless provide a possible starting point for broader discussions on nuclear security and arms control, although there is no indication yet that either country has agreed to a formal arrangement.
The talks also come at a time when the previous major US-Russia nuclear arms control framework has expired, leaving fewer formal limits on the world’s major nuclear arsenals.
Further discussions between US and Chinese officials are expected before Trump and Xi meet again later this year. Another meeting could take place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China in November or during Group of 20 meetings in the United States in December.
By then, officials are expected to have held additional lower-level discussions on whether reciprocal visits to nuclear facilities can be arranged.
