Description
The world is witnessing an era of intensified geopolitical competition and technological rivalry between China and the United States, extending into the realms of military technology and weaponry. Against this backdrop, this article examines the continuity and change in China’s approach to arms control diplomacy since 2013. It focuses on two case studies: (1) nuclear weapons and (2) military artificial intelligence (AI). Drawing on elite interviews and open-source documents in Chinese and English, this paper argues that China’s arms control diplomacy has exhibited far greater consistency than is commonly depicted or expected in existing literature. The paper identifies five areas of consistency in China’s arms control diplomacy: a realist worldview, an emphasis on the leading role of great powers, a government-centred approach, an aversion to coalitions, and an inward-looking focus. Using Bourdieu’s practice theory, this paper examines the reasons behind the strong continuity in China’s arms control diplomacy, even amidst significant shifts in the geopolitical landscape and the rise of new technologies. It also contributes to the literature on China’s arms control policy, which has primarily focused on China’s nuclear diplomacy prior to the 2000s, by providing insights into its broader and more recent arms control strategies.
