Recommendations for U.S.-China Cooperation on Reducing Nuclear Risks

The Council on Strategic Risks proposes several avenues for U.S.-China cooperation to reduce nuclear risks, including preventing the spread of tactical nuclear weapons, discussing nuclear-only intermediate-range force measures, halting the nuclear arming of cruise missiles, and improving crisis communications.

• The United States and China should prioritize actions that prevent the worsening of security dilemmas and reduce ambiguities that increase the risk of miscalculation, specifically by avoiding the blurring of conventional and nuclear systems.
• There is a risk that U.S. efforts on Capitol Hill to create a program of record for a new tactical nuclear system could lead China to develop its own tactical nuclear systems to address a perceived "deterrence gap," despite China's doctrine not calling for such weapons.
• The authors suggest that the U.S. and China could cooperate on nuclear arms control by focusing on nuclear capabilities similar to the defunct U.S.-Russian Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and by ensuring a human remains "in the loop" for nuclear weapons decisions.
• The document proposes a long-term goal of moving away from the nuclear arming of cruise missiles. Specifically, it suggests that since neither the U.S. nor China currently possesses ground-launched or sea-launched nuclear cruise missiles, they could maintain this status as a sign of mutual restraint.
• To improve crisis communications, the U.S. and China could revive the 2020 Crisis Communications Working Group to ensure communication channels are fit for purpose and resilient against new technologies.

APA

The Council on Strategic Risks (2023). Recommendations for U.S.-China Cooperation on Reducing Nuclear Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/13/recommendations-for-u-s-china-cooperation-on-reducing-nuclear-risks/

Chicago

The Council on Strategic Risks. Recommendations for U.S.-China Cooperation on Reducing Nuclear Risks. 2023. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/13/recommendations-for-u-s-china-cooperation-on-reducing-nuclear-risks/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=The Council on Strategic Risks |title=Recommendations for U.S.-China Cooperation on Reducing Nuclear Risks |date=13 November 2023 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/13/recommendations-for-u-s-china-cooperation-on-reducing-nuclear-risks/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{thecouncilonstrategicrisks2023recommendations, author = {{The Council on Strategic Risks}}, title = {{Recommendations for U.S.-China Cooperation on Reducing Nuclear Risks}}, publisher = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2023/11/13/recommendations-for-u-s-china-cooperation-on-reducing-nuclear-risks/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }