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China is expanding its nuclear weapons capabilities faster than previously predicted and could increase the number of nuclear warheads its military has by 700 in less than six years, the Pentagon said in a startling assessment released Wednesday.
The rapid acceleration of Beijing’s nuclear stockpile, which could top 1,000 deliverable warheads by 2030, is designed to match and even surpass the US’ global military might, according to “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China,” the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress.
“The PRC’s strategy aims to achieve ‘the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ by 2049 to match or surpass U.S. global influence and power, displace U.S. alliances and security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, and revise the international order to be more advantageous to Beijing’s authoritarian system and national interests,” the Pentagon report says, referring to China’s formal name, the People’s Republic of China.
“This strategy can be characterized as a determined pursuit of far-ranging efforts to expand the PRC’s national power,” it continued.
The 192-page report did not note how many nuclear weapons the People’s Liberation Army has currently, but the Pentagon said the number was in the “low 200s” last year.
The US has 3,750 nuclear weapons in its stockpile and doesn’t have any plans to increase it.
The PLA, with a force of roughly two million military members, is attempting to modernize its capabilities so that it can carry out operations on land, in the air and on the sea, as well as cyberspace and outer space.
“The PLA’s evolving capabilities and concepts continue to strengthen the PRC’s ability to ‘fight and win wars’ against a ‘strong enemy’ [a likely euphemism for the United States], coerce Taiwan and rival claimants in territorial disputes, counter an intervention by a third party in a conflict along the PRC’s periphery, and project power globally,” the Pentagon report says.
It said China’s navy by sheer numbers is the largest in the world with a force of 355 ships and submarines.
In the near term, China plans to be able to fire long-range missiles from submarines and surface platforms, and is “enhancing” its anti-submarine capabilities to protect its navy’s aircraft carriers and ballistic missile submarines.
China’s air force is the world’s third largest, the report says, with more than 2,800 total aircraft – 2,250 consist of fighters, strategic bombers and attack aircraft.
The Pentagon released its assessment as reports say China fired a hypersonic missile into orbit in August.
Such missiles travel at low altitudes and can be maneuvered in flight, lessening the likelihood that they will be detected, and increasing the likelihood that they will hit their target more quickly.
It also comes amid Beijing’s aggressive military front against Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China views as a rogue nation and has pledged to reunify with mainland China.
Early last month, China’s military flew dozens of aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense zone.
Speaking last month after the military flights, President Xi Jinping said the country wanted to achieve a “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan.
“Taiwan independence separatism is the biggest obstacle to achieving the reunification of the motherland, and the most serious hidden danger to national rejuvenation,” he said.
With Post wires
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