Hong Kong, Feb. 15 -- The New START agreement between the USA and Russia is dead, and there are concerns this will lead to a nuclear-testing resurgence. Simultaneously, China spurns invitations to join a voluntary nuclear limitation treaty with the world's largest nuclear powers.

As New START - the Treaty between the USA and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms - expired on 5 February 2026, the USA has been calling for a new nuclear-arms control treaty encompassing itself, Russia and China.

The latter has been conducting the world's fastest-ever expansion of a nuclear arsenal. The People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) had an estimated nuclear-warhead stockpile "i...