Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) 1 & 2

Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) 1 & 2

Summary:

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (START) 1 and 2 are bilateral agreements between the United States and the Soviet Union in which each country agrees to reduce and limit its strategic offensive arms.

The START 1 Treaty was signed on 31 July 1991, and entered into force on 5 December 1994. The treaty mandates reductions to equal aggregate levels in strategic offensive arms, carried out in three phases over seven years from the date the treaty enters into force. START 1 has a 15-year duration and can be extended by agreement for successive 5-year periods.

START 2 would further reduce the number of strategic nuclear delivery vehicles and the warheads on them. Overall strategic nuclear forces would be reduced by an additional 5,000 warheads beyond the 9,000 warheads being reduced under START 1. The START 2 Treaty was negotiated by the United States and Russia between 1991 and 1992 and submitted to the Senate by President George Bush following signature on 3 January 1993.

The Treaty will set equal ceilings on the number of strategic nuclear weapons that can be deployed by either side. Ceilings will be set for two phases: Phase One to be completed seven years after entry into force of the START 1 Treaty. By the end of the first phase, each side must have reduced its total deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 3,800-4,250. By the end of the second and final phase, each side must have reduced its total deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 3,000-3,500. Phase Two to be completed by the year 2003. Phase Two may be completed by the end of the year 2000 if the United States can help finance the elimination of strategic offensive arms in Russia.

The comprehensive START 1 verification regime will continue to apply to START 2. In addition, START 2 includes some new verification measures, such as observation of SS-18 silo conversion and missile elimination procedures, inspections of all heavy bombers to confirm weapon loads, and exhibitions of heavy bombers reoriented to a conventional role to confirm their observable differences.

For additional in-depth information, please consult the Inventory of Nonproliferation Organizations and Regimes, which can be found on the CNS website at: http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/.

China and START 1 and 2:

China is not a signatory to either START 1 or 2, which are bilateral agreements between the United States and the Soviet Union (Russia).

China has consistently called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons, and is publicly in favor of nuclear disarmament. China has also stated that, as the two biggest nuclear powers, the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia ought to take the lead in nuclear disarmament. China has officially welcomed both START 1 and 2 and hopes that they will be "conscientiously implemented," but has also indicated that it does not believe these agreements go far enough.
After the Russian Duma ratified START 2, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wang Guangya expressed support for the action, but added that China "hopes the United States will ratify the protocols to this treaty very quickly, since this would allow it to be implemented as soon as possible and talks between Russia and the USA on START-3 to be started." ["China Welcomes Russian Ratification of START II," RIA, 19 April 2000, in FBIS, CEP20000419000160, 19 April 2000.]

In response to suggestions that China also ought to participate in similar nuclear arms reductions, China has indicated that, since the US and Russian arsenals are so much larger, China will not participate in the nuclear disarmament process until Russia and the United States have reduced their arsenals to a level comparable to China's. Prior to 1986, China demanded 50 percent US and Soviet reductions as a condition for participating in multilateral disarmament, but after 1986, China switched its condition to "drastic reductions."

For more background, see:

[TEXT OF START 1]

[TEXT OF START 2]

For more general information on China's attitude toward nuclear disarmament/arms control, see:

[CHINA AND DISARMAMENT/ARMS CONTROL]

[CHRONOLOGY OF DISARMAMENT-RELATED STATEMENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS]

This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by MIIS.