Arms control: MFA's Sun Xiaobo holds "constructive" talks in Washington

Is China finally willing to discuss nuclear arms control with the US?

On Monday 6 November, the Director-General of the Department of Arms Control at China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sun Xiaobo, met with Assistant Secretary Mallory Stewart in Washington DC to discuss arms control issues for the first time in years**.

When US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated at the Arms Control Association’s Annual Forum in June 2023 that the US is now “ready to engage China without preconditions”¹, China’s initial reaction - as reported by Semafor - was that “China’s nuclear strength is far from being on par with the U.S. and Russia. The time is not ready yet for [Beijing] to join the nuclear arms control negotiations proposed by some”². Evidently, China’s position has softened slightly since then.

The US described Monday's talks as "constructive", however, an unnamed US official speaking with Reuters said that the meeting was not "substantive”, and that no new information was revealed³.

According to a press release from the US State Department, US officials emphasised the importance of increased PRC nuclear transparency and engagement on measures to manage strategic risks, as well as the need to promote stability, to avoid an unconstrained arms race, and to manage competition as to prevent direct conflict⁴. Indeed, the US Government has become increasingly concerned about China’s rapidly growing nuclear arsenal and the lack of transparency surrounding it⁵.

The unnamed US official also stated that there was no indication the Chinese government is willing to separate arms control and strategic stability from disagreements on other issues.

The two sides exchanged views on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, cooperation among the five nuclear-weapon states, nuclear security, non-proliferation and export control, biological and chemical treaty compliance, outer space security and conventional arms control⁶.

Whilst no follow-up meeting has been announced, it is possible that one will be agreed during President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden’s scheduled meeting on 15 Nov during the 30th APEC Economic Leaders’ Week due to be held in San Francisco.

As Director-General of the Department of Arms Control, it is likely that Sun Xiaobo will continue to play a leading role in any future arms control talks with the US. Therefore, it will be important to know more about him.

Sun Xiaobo is an expert on international multilateral politics, having spent most of his career either at the UN in New York or at the Department of International Organizations and Conferences within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Whilst at the UN, Sun accumulated plenty of experience dealing with different international issues, however, his appointment as the Director-General of the Department of Arms Control appears to be his first official role focussing specifically on arms control.

Since his appointment nearly 12 months ago, Sun has held conversations on a variety of related matters face-to-face or via telephone with representatives from the Netherlands, Germany, the EU, Iran, the UN, Pakistan, the UK, and now the US.

When speaking with Enrique Mora, the EU’s Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service, Sun stated the China would continue to support the EU’s on-going efforts relating to the Iran nuclear deal and called on all relevant parties to resume negotiations⁷.

An official version of Sun’s CV is not available, however, it was possible to approximate his career since 2001 using open-source information. China Diplomatic Digest cannot guarantee that the below CV is 100% accurate, however, best efforts were made and sources have been provided.

Sun Xiaobo’s CV (unofficial):

2001⁸ – 2006⁹ Third Secretary | Adviser, China’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations

2007¹⁰ – 2009¹¹ Deputy Director, UN Division, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA

2009 – 2014 Counsellor¹² | First Secretary¹³ | Alternate Representative at Security Council¹⁴ | Adviser¹⁵, China’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations

2014 – 2020 Deputy Director-General¹⁶ | Counsellor¹⁷ | Director¹⁸, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, MFA

2016  Member of the Chinese military working group¹⁹

2019²⁰ – 2022²¹ Deputy Director, Tibetan Foreign Affairs Office

2022.12²² –  Director-General, Department of Arms Control, MFA

**Newspapers are currently reporting contradicting information about the last time China held arms control talks with the US. Some sources, such as the Wall Street Journal, are reporting that the last time such talks were held was during the Obama Administration²³, however, the South China Morning Post is reporting that the last meeting was in 2019²⁴, when former Director-General Fu Cong met with the Assistant Secretary Christopher Ford in China to discuss nuclear non-proliferation.²⁵

References

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20231108144009/https://www.armscontrol.org/2023AnnualMeeting/sullivan-remarks

2. https://web.archive.org/web/20230720040105/https://www.semafor.com/article/06/08/2023/china-rejects-nuclear-talks-us

3. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110181703/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-11-07/us-chinese-officials-held-arms-control-talks-on-monday-state-dept

4. https://web.archive.org/web/20231109214026/https://www.state.gov/assistant-secretary-mallory-stewarts-meeting-with-the-peoples-republic-of-chinas-prc-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-director-general-of-arms-control-sun-xiaobo/

5. https://web.archive.org/web/20230814194526/https://www.state.gov/keynote-remarks-for-chinas-military-modernization-implications-for-regional-security-track-1-5-dialogue/

6. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110181939/https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/wjb_673085/zzjg_673183/jks_674633/jksxwlb_674635/202311/t20231108_11176054.shtml

7. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110182040/https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/wjb_673085/zzjg_673183/jks_674633/jksxwlb_674635/202307/t20230707_11109957.shtml

8. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/438624/

9. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/568731/

10. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110182529/https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/07BEIJING2058_a.html

11. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110182446/https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09BEIJING66_a.html

12. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/771044/

13. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/752696/

14. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/724921/

15. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/668769/

16. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110182759/https://www.sohu.com/a/433924506_301725

17. https://web.archive.org/web/20160718134043/http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0717/c1011-28559891.html

18. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/819968/

19. https://web.archive.org/web/20160718134043/http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0717/c1011-28559891.html

20. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110122201/http://wsb.xizang.gov.cn/ztzl/ztjyhd/201911/t20191118_124055.html

21. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110122037/http://drc.xizang.gov.cn/dwjs/zwdjt/202206/t20220621_303990.html

22. https://web.archive.org/web/20221231195554/https://www.mfa.gov.cn/web/wjb_673085/zzjg_673183/jks_674633/

23. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110065124/https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/china-agrees-to-arms-control-talks-with-u-s-87a44b38

24. https://web.archive.org/web/20231107234709/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3240123/china-and-us-set-first-nuclear-non-proliferation-talks-years?module=inline&pgtype=article

25. https://web.archive.org/web/20231110183456/https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/gjhdq_665435/3376_665447/3432_664920/3435_664926/201907/t20190726_590718.html