At the third Nuclear Security Summit, held at The Hague in April, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented the first articulation of China’s approach to nuclear security and the development of nuclear energy. Unlike Western nuclear security concepts, which view nuclear security and energy development as competing goals, Xi said China’s approach would attempt to balance the dualities inherent in nuclear security, such as development and security, responsibility and right, domestic efforts and international cooperation, and temporary and long-term approaches. 

In this podcast, hosted by Carnegie–Tsinghua’s Paul Haenle, Carnegie’s Li Bin explained that China has made several important contributions to international nuclear security and shares many common goals with the United States on this issue. During the first and second Nuclear Security Summits, U.S.-China bilateral relations were strained, but Chinese leaders still attended the multilateral summits and offered political support for President Obama’s initiative, he said. Furthermore, China and the United States have begun construction on a jointly funded nuclear security training center for experts from around the world on nuclear security. 

Li added that China has been proactive in proposing ideas regarding nuclear security. At the second Nuclear Security Summit in 2012, China, together with South Korea and Japan, put forward a proposal to increase attention on the security of radioactive materials, a significant concern for many East Asian countries. China is committed to the common goal of nuclear security, Li concluded, and has not allowed other tensions in the bilateral relationship to impede progress on these cooperative efforts.

Li Bin

Li Bin is a senior associate in the Nuclear Policy Program and the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment and a professor of international relations at Tsinghua University. He is a physicist and expert on nuclear disarmament, researching China’s nuclear and arms control policy and U.S.-Chinese nuclear relations. Prior to joining the Carnegie Endowment, Li was the founding director of the Arms Control Program at the Institute of International Studies.

Paul Haenle

Paul Haenle is the director of the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center. Prior to joining Carnegie, he served from June 2007 to June 2009 as the director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolian Affairs on the National Security Council staffs of former president George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.