US quitting INF Treaty a threat to peace

Unilateralism threatens the existing world order

Perhaps it is clear to all the countries that the Trump-led US will not remain a party to any international or multilateral agreement that it considers a "bad deal" for the US. And that Trump has recently said the INF Treaty was a "bad deal" indicates the US could pull out of it.

Washington wants to get rid of the INF Treaty's military limits on its development. That's why it claims that Russia has been violating the treaty, with Trump indicating that China should be made part of any INF-like treaty in the future.

Moscow may be eager to save the treaty, but it will find it difficult to convince Washington of the importance of a deal the Trump administration considers of little benefit to the US. In addition to accusing each other of violating the treaty, Moscow and Washington both want to safeguard their own interests. Therefore, it would be difficult for the two sides to negotiate a new deal to replace the INF Treaty.

But if the US does withdraw from the treaty, it will set a bad example for arms control, and weaken the global arms' control regime－at least in the short term. In the long term, however, the global arms race will not intensify, as Russia cannot continuously develop weapons and military equipment given its economic woes. As for the other countries, there has always been an arms race, but it has remained relatively stable.

Li Daguang, a researcher at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army