news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

"China is seriously concerned about the relevant reports. Facts have fully proved that the United States has been constantly rehashing the so-called 'China nuclear threat theory' in recent years, but it is just an excuse to shirk its nuclear disarmament responsibilities, expand its nuclear arsenal, and seek overwhelming strategic advantages." Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responded to the New York Times's re-exaggeration of the "China nuclear threat" at a regular press conference on the 21st. The newspaper's website reported on the 20th that US President Biden approved a highly confidential nuclear strategic plan in March this year. The plan adjusted the US nuclear deterrence strategy for the first time, focusing on responding to the so-called "rapid expansion of China's nuclear arsenal." The report exaggerated that the Pentagon believes that in the next decade, the scale and diversity of China's nuclear arsenal will be comparable to those of the United States and Russia, so it made this change.

Rendering the nuclear environment "more dynamic and turbulent than it was three years ago"

According to the New York Times, in March this year, Biden approved the revised strategic document, the Guidance on the Use of Nuclear Weapons. The document is updated every four years and is highly confidential. The revised strategy attempts to prepare the United States for possible nuclear challenges from China, Russia and other countries.

The New York Times revealed that although the White House has never announced that Biden has approved the new nuclear strategy, two people have recently been allowed to mention its contents. Earlier this month, Vipin Naran, a former U.S. Department of Defense official and nuclear strategy expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that President Biden "recently issued the latest Nuclear Weapons Use Guidance to deal with multiple nuclear-armed adversaries." He added that the guidance takes into account the "significant growth in the size and diversity" of China's nuclear arsenal. In June this year, Pranay Vadi, the senior director for arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation at the National Security Council, also mentioned the document. He said the new strategy emphasizes the need to deter Russia, China and other countries at the same time.

The New York Times claimed that in the past, the possibility that America's adversaries would be able to coordinate nuclear threats to defeat the U.S. nuclear arsenal seemed slim, but the emerging partnership between Russia and China, as well as Iran and other countries providing Russia with conventional weapons for use in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, have fundamentally changed U.S. thinking.

"The new strategic document is a reminder that whoever takes office as US president on January 20 next year will face a nuclear environment that is more changed and more turbulent than it was three years ago." The report exaggerated that since Truman's presidency, the strategy has been overwhelmingly focused on the arsenals of the Soviet Union and Russia. Now the new guidance document approved by Biden shows that the situation is changing rapidly. The Pentagon estimates that by 2030, China's nuclear warheads will increase to 1,000 and by 2035 will reach 1,500, roughly equivalent to the number currently deployed by the United States and Russia. The report claims, citing US officials, that China now seems to have completed this plan ahead of schedule.

"China's nuclear arsenal is not at the same level as the United States'." Mao Ning said at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' regular press conference on the 21st that China pursues a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, adheres to a self-defense nuclear strategy, always maintains its nuclear forces at the minimum level required for national security, and has no intention of engaging in an arms race with any country. "In contrast, the United States, which has the largest and most advanced nuclear arsenal, stubbornly adheres to a nuclear deterrence policy based on the first use of nuclear weapons, continues to invest huge sums of money to upgrade its 'three-in-one' nuclear forces, and openly tailors nuclear deterrence strategies for other countries. The United States is the creator of the world's biggest nuclear threat and strategic risks."

The White House claims that it is not targeting any single entity or country

Zhuo Hua, an international affairs expert at the School of International Relations of Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on the 21st that the US government's nuclear strategic deterrence focus has shifted to China, and it has exaggerated the "threat" against China, Russia and other countries. It has two main intentions. First, with the changes in conventional forces and battlefield environment, the United States is now willing to rely on nuclear weapons to "extend the life" of US hegemony. Second, by binding China, Russia and other countries, the United States is piecing together a nuclear situation of "meeting a rival" and intends to incorporate the upgrade of nuclear forces into the strategic competition with China, so as to find a stable and sustainable budget and political support for its nuclear weapons expansion and nuclear proliferation.

In response to the New York Times report, White House spokesman Sean Savit said on the 20th: "Although the specific text of the Nuclear Weapons Guidance is confidential, its existence is by no means confidential. The Guidance released earlier this year is not a response to any single entity, country or threat."

Reuters quoted the Arms Control Association as saying that according to their understanding, the US nuclear weapons strategy and posture remain the same as described in the government's 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, and have not shifted direction from Russia to China. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said that although US intelligence agencies estimate that China may expand the size of its nuclear arsenal, Russia currently has about 4,000 nuclear warheads and Russia "remains the main driver of US nuclear strategy." Kimball said that the United States may need to consider adjusting the size and composition of its nuclear forces at some point in the future. "My understanding is that such changes may not be considered until 2030 or later."

Pentagon requests $49.2 billion

No matter how the White House and the U.S. Arms Control Association try to "make up for it", it is an indisputable fact that the United States and its Western allies have been hyping up the so-called "China nuclear threat theory" in recent years and using it as an excuse to expand their nuclear arsenals.

In June this year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) of Sweden published its annual report on global nuclear forces, showing that the total number of available nuclear warheads in various countries continues to increase. Among them, the United States has 1,770 deployed nuclear warheads, 1,938 nuclear warheads in storage, and 1,336 retired but not yet dismantled nuclear warheads. In contrast, the United Kingdom, France and China have 225, 290 and 500 nuclear warheads respectively, and China has only 24 deployed warheads.

Even so, some people in the West still focus on China. US media hyped that as of January this year, China's nuclear warhead inventory has increased from 410 last year to 500. Many US media also noted that the report mentioned that "China's nuclear weapons inventory is expected to continue to grow in the next decade, and it is predicted that during this period, China may deploy as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as Russia and the United States."

"Restarting the nuclear arms race? In response to China and Russia's nuclear strategies, the United States is considering expanding its nuclear arsenal." The New York Times quoted Wadi as saying in June, "If the development trajectory of our adversary's nuclear arsenal does not change, we may reach a point in the next few years where we need to increase the number of deployments on the existing basis, and we need to be fully prepared to implement it immediately once the president makes a decision."

According to the U.S. Department of Defense's explanation of the fiscal year 2025 defense budget, in order to maintain the level of deterrence, the Pentagon requested an appropriation of $49.2 billion for the modernization and upgrading of the "three-in-one" nuclear force. The Arms Control Association said that the Biden administration's fiscal year 2025 defense budget request will increase the Department of Defense's nuclear weapons program spending by 31% compared to fiscal year 2024, and it is expected that the costs of some key nuclear modernization programs will rise significantly in the future.

"Disregarding the international morality and obligations of the largest nuclear-armed country"

The United States is not only expanding its nuclear arsenal, but also spreading its "nuclear umbrella" and even nuclear technology. In the US-Japan "2+2" talks held in July, the two countries expressed concerns about the so-called "continued rapid expansion of China's nuclear arsenal" and held the first "extended deterrence" ministerial meeting. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said that this is intended to send a message to the outside world that the United States has a strong desire to use forces including nuclear weapons to protect Japan. Since 2010, the diplomatic and defense departments of the two countries have been conducting affairs-level consultations on the issue of "extended deterrence", and this year they established an independent ministerial framework for the first time.

According to the Associated Press, in July, the United States and South Korea jointly issued a "Joint Statement of the United States and South Korea on Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations Guidelines on the Korean Peninsula". According to the report, last year, the United States and South Korea established a consultation group to strengthen communication on nuclear operations and discuss how to integrate US nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons in various emergency situations. The United States has long promised to use all its capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend South Korea if it is attacked.

On the 12th of this month, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Marrs said that it had signed a nuclear-powered submarine cooperation agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom, allowing the three countries to exchange nuclear materials and nuclear information. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that the three countries pieced together a "trilateral security partnership" to promote cooperation in nuclear submarines and other cutting-edge military technologies, stimulate arms races, impact the international nuclear non-proliferation system, provoke group politics and military confrontation, and undermine regional peace and stability. China and relevant regional countries have repeatedly expressed serious concerns and resolute opposition.

"It is completely a distortion of right and wrong to fabricate the scale of China's nuclear arsenal and exaggerate the 'Chinese nuclear threat' out of thin air." Zhuo Hua analyzed that in recent years, the United States has withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Missile Treaty, violated the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and horizontally proliferated weapon-grade nuclear materials to other countries, attempting to undermine international consensus and force China into the disarmament process prioritized by the United States and Russia. At the same time, it has vertically proliferated nuclear weapons by upgrading vehicles and building miniaturized warheads, lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, and is unwilling to even make "negative security assurances" to most non-nuclear countries. All of this is trampling on the international nuclear arms control consensus and process, and disregarding the international morality and obligations of the largest nuclear power.

Zhuo Hua said that it is precisely because the United States has been so blatant in its unscrupulous nuclear proliferation in recent years, coupled with the Nuclear Security Summit in March, the Preparatory Committee meeting of the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in July, and the heat of nuclear weapons in international conflicts, that the international community has paid attention to the US super nuclear arsenal. "Therefore, in recent times, it is obvious that the US media has stirred up international public opinion, trying to divert international attention and pressure to other countries, and deviate from the main track of the international arms control agenda."