Marshall Billingslea, the special presidential envoy for arms control, all but accused China of preparing for nuclear year during a press conference from NATO headquarters yesterday. China, of course, did not participate in the June 22 meeting in Vienna between Billingslea and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, nor did the Chinese ever give any indication that they might consider it. Rather than offering incentives for China to attend the meeting, Billingslea instead simply proclaimed that China had on obligation to be there and negotiate with the U.S.
Secondly, he claimed that there’s a “tidal wave” of international pressure on China to join the U.S.-Russian talks, though there is no evidence of this pressure, and he proclaimed that he expected this pressure to grow, “because it is, simply put, unacceptable that China engage in this secretive and destabilizing buildup,” he said. That China is allegedly involved in a secret nuclear arms buildup was the next claim for which he offered no evidence but which forms the basis for China to participate in trilateral talks with the U.S. and Russia.
