Will Beijing use Nuclear Weapons in a Conflict over Taiwan?

our next story is about a meeting that took place in Shanghai recently a meeting between the US and China these were informal talks no government officials were involved nonetheless they were important it was the first such conversation in 5 years and it focused on one key aspect nuclear weapons America wanted to know two things will Beijing issue a nuclear threat over Taiwan and does its no first use policy does China no first use policy still stand and what was beijing's response our next report tells you it was an intense discussion for 2days the setting was a conference room in a Shanghai Hotel on the US side there were about half a dozen delegations that include former officials even Scholars on beijing's side too it was a mix Scholars analysts and former pla officers so what were the two countries talking about it was nuclear arms the focus was mainly on Taiwan China claims the island as part of its territory a claim that taipe refutes in recent years Beijing has ramped up its ante around Taiwan whether it's through statements or militaryexercises but is Beijing about to make a nuclear threat its officials say no Washington raised concerns that if China was defeated in a conflict over Taiwan it might use or even threaten to use nukes but Beijing has denied any such claims it's also given Washington reassurances reports claim its official say it will not resort to Atomic threats now these are called track two talks the people taking part are former officials even academics they may not set policy but they speak with authority on the government's position so theseare sort of semi official talks they are not track one talks those are what happened between governments in November last year the Count's resumed track one talks on nuclear arms but those discussions have stalled so these track two talks are a step in the right direction these are the first informal talks between the US and China in 5 years and it focuses on a key issue nuclear arms in the last century the US and Russia ramped up their nuclear Arsenal China was far behind it didn't focus on nukes it focused on growthinstead China's first nuclear weapons test was in 1964 but since then Beijing has built hundreds of nuclear weapons yet called its Arsenal modest Beijing has stressed on two things no first use that is it will never go first in a nuclear conflict and the second is minimal deterence that is having just enough nukes to dissuade adversaries according to the Pentagon Beijing is on track to double the number of its nuclear warheads by the end of the decade so from 500 to 1,000 by 2030 most of its nukes will likely be held at higherReadiness levels so a key question on the US side is does China still stand by its no first use in minimal deterant policies Beijing says it's still business as usual nothing has changed that's China's stance for now but most analysts believe China's no first use policy is conditional what those conditions are is something the world is yet to figure [Music] out on this of today the T20 World Cup bang has mve across to the West IND e can you expect hello I'm Alex coming to you from B South Africa today we have aspecial start with a report on India shifting nuclear C for the first time since India hello and welcome to First P America I'm Eric ham coming to you live from the nation's capital in Washington DC