II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3844 

To require a study conducted by the Secretary of State on the future of 

arms control with the People’s Republic of China. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2020 

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require a study conducted by the Secretary of State 

on the future of arms control with the People’s Republic 

of China. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Since 1964, the People’s Republic of China 

6 has been a nuclear weapons state and has developed 

7 strategic and tactical systems capable of threatening 

8 the United States, United States allies and partners, 

9 and United States and alliance assets in the Indo10 Pacific region. 


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1 (2) The Government of the People’s Republic of 

2 China continues to develop additional nuclear, space, 

3 cyberspace, and other advanced and emerging capa4 bilities with the ability to threaten targets across the 

5 globe. 

6 (3) The People’s Republic of China maintains 

7 limited, survivable nuclear forces intended to guar8 antee a damaging retaliatory strike, with its stra9 tegic nuclear forces consisting of approximately 90 

10 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles 

11 (ICBMs) and 300 nuclear warheads. 

12 (4) According to the Department of Defense, in 

13 addition to its ICBM capabilities, the People’s Re14 public of China retains four operational JIN-class 

15 (Type 094) nuclear-powered ballistic missile sub16 marines (SSBNs) with two more under construction, 

17 all of which carry the modern JL–2 submarine18 launched ballistic missile (SLBM). 

19 (5) According to the Defense Intelligence Agen20 cy’s (DIA) 2019 China Military Power Report, the 

21 People’s Republic of China’s nuclear delivery sys22 tems continue to undergo a modernization program 

23 that will make its arsenal ‘‘more mobile, responsive, 

24 and accurate’’. 


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1 (6) The DIA also reports that the People’s Lib2 eration Army Rocket Forces (PLARF) fields appro3 priately 1,200 short-range missiles and hundreds of 

4 medium-range ballistic missiles that have the ability 

5 to strike Taiwan and other regional targets. 

6 (7) In 2007, the Government of the People’s 

7 Republic of China used an anti-satellite missile to 

8 destroy a weather satellite, creating potentially haz9 ardous debris in a heavily used belt of Earth’s orbit. 

10 (8) The People’s Liberation Army continues to 

11 develop anti-satellite capabilities, including research 

12 and possible development of directed energy weapons 

13 and satellite jammers. 

14 (9) In October 2019, the Government of the 

15 People’s Republic of China exhibited DF–17 mis16 siles, a hypersonic glider with the ability to rapidly 

17 maneuver at high speeds during flight. Hypersonic 

18 guide vehicles create a new threat to critical infra19 structure, including the United States command and 

20 control system. 

21 (10) On December 3, 2019, Assistant Secretary 

22 of State for International Security and Nonprolifera23 tion Christopher Ford, in testimony before the Com24 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, said 

25 President Donald J. Trump ‘‘has publicly called for 


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1 us to engage both Moscow and Beijing in a new 

2 project of trilateral arms control to help effectively 

3 manage strategic competition and build towards a 

4 better, safer, and more prosperous future together’’. 

5 SEC. 2. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE6 FINED. 

7 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

10 the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; and 

11 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

12 Committee on Armed Services of the House of Rep13 resentatives. 

14 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

15 It is the policy of the United States that an arms 

16 control dialogue with the People’s Republic of China, co17 ordinated with United States allies and shaped by a coher18 ent Indo-Pacific strategy, is in the national security inter19 ests of the United States. 

20 SEC. 4. REPORT ON THE FUTURE OF UNITED STATES21 CHINA ARMS CONTROL. 

22 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination 

24 with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appro25 priate congressional committees a report, and a separate 


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1 classified annex, that examines the approaches and stra2 tegic effects of engaging the People’s Republic of China 

3 on arms control, including— 

4 (1) areas of potential dialogue between the Gov5 ernments of the United States and the People’s Re6 public of China, including on nuclear, ballistic, and 

7 cruise missiles, conventional forces, space, and 

8 cyberspace issues, as well as other new strategic do9 mains, which could reduce the likelihood of war, 

10 limit escalation if a conflict were to occur, and con11 strain a destabilizing arms race in the Indo-Pacific; 

12 (2) how the United States Government can fos13 ter increased interest on the part of the Government 

14 of the People’s Republic of China in arms control; 

15 (3) identifying strategic military capabilities of 

16 the People’s Republic of China that the United 

17 States Government is most concerned about and how 

18 limiting these capabilities may benefit United States 

19 and allied security interests; 

20 (4) opportunities for multilateral arms control 

21 in the Indo-Pacific region; 

22 (5) mechanisms to avoid, manage, or control 

23 nuclear, conventional, and unconventional military 

24 escalation between the United States and the Peo25 ple’s Republic of China; and 


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1 (6) opportunities and methods to create stra2 tegic transparency between the United States and 

3 the People’s Republic of China. 

Æ 


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