‘Set an example’: China tells Trump on denuclearization, defense spending cut

ISTANBUL

China on Friday suggested that US President Donald Trump lead from the front and “set an example” on denuclearization as well as cut defense spending under his “America First” policy.

“The US advocates for 'America First,' then it should set an example by prioritizing reductions in military spending,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing, according to Chinese state media.

America First refers to a Trump policy that emphasizes "putting America first" in both domestic and international affairs.

Beijing also demanded Washington and Moscow reduce their nuclear stockpiles after Trump said Thursday that he wants to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin to propose that all three countries cut their military budgets in half as well as denuclearization.

“One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China and President Putin of Russia, and I wanna say: ‘Let's cut our military budget in half.’ And we can do that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“There's no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons,” he added.

However, Guo said: “It is widely recognized around the world that the US and Russia possess over 90% of the world's nuclear weapons.”

“As the countries with the largest nuclear arsenals, the US and Russia should earnestly fulfill their special priority responsibilities for nuclear disarmament, further significantly and substantively reduce their nuclear stockpiles, and create the necessary conditions for other nuclear-armed states to join the nuclear disarmament process,” he added.

On the proposal of cut in defense spending, Guo said: “Compared to military powers like the US, China's defense spending is relatively low in terms of its proportion of GDP, its share of national fiscal expenditure, per capita defense spending, and per capita military personnel defense spending.”

The US spends nearly $900 billion annually on defense while China’s defense spending last year would be close to $474 billion, according to War on the Rocks platform for analysis on strategy, defense, and foreign affairs.

Amid its ongoing war with Ukraine, Russia spent Rbs13.1 trillion last year that equivalent to $462 billion on the basis of purchasing power parity, which adjusts for what currencies can buy in their home countries, according to the daily Financial Times.

As of January 2024, the global inventory of nuclear warheads is estimated at 12,121, with about 9,585 of these in military stockpiles ready for potential use, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Around 2,100 of the deployed warheads are on high operational alert, with the majority belonging to Russia and the US, though China is thought to have some warheads in this state for the first time.