Perhaps the biggest obstacle to initiating a trilateral dialogue is Chinese resistance to formal nuclear arms-control agreements, which is rooted in the memory of Cold War-era nonproliferation initiatives aimed partly at preventing China from developing its own nuclear deterrent. Since then, Chinese officials have insisted that they do not belong in US-Russian strategic-arms talks, because the two countries’ nuclear arsenals dwarf theirs.
启动三边对话的最大障碍或许是中国对正式核军控协议的抗拒态度。中国的抵触情绪来源于冷战时期的防扩散协议，该协议部分企图阻止中国发展自身的核威慑力量。从那时起，中国官员就以本国核武库相形见绌为由拒绝参与美俄战略武器谈判。