Chinese Ministry of National Defense: "Concerns over US expansion of China's nuclear forces are baseless speculation"

"USA is the World's Largest Nuclear Power"
"USA is the One Fueling Division and Conflict" Criticism

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Chinese Ministry of National Defense recently strongly criticized the U.S. government for provoking conflict by directly refuting the contents of a military report regarding the expansion of China's nuclear forces. Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense pointed out that the number of China's nuclear warheads has more than doubled compared to previous estimates in just two years, issuing a report warning about the expansion of China's nuclear capabilities.

On the 6th, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense stated in a press release, "The U.S. government is making absurd speculations about China's nuclear force modernization," emphasizing, "China firmly pursues a self-defensive nuclear strategy, adheres to the policy of never using nuclear weapons preemptively under any circumstances, and maintains its nuclear forces at the lowest level required by the state."

The Chinese Ministry of National Defense pointed out, "The country with the largest nuclear arsenal in the world is the United States, and it is the U.S. that should reflect on its nuclear policy," adding, "The U.S. is trying to deploy and develop tactical nuclear weapons at the front lines and, through security partnerships with the United Kingdom and Australia, is rather encouraging nuclear proliferation." It further strongly condemned, "The U.S. has fanned the flames for its own interests, fomenting division and confrontation worldwide, bringing chaos and disaster wherever it goes."

The content refuted by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense was from the '2022 China Military Power Report' released by the U.S. Department of Defense on the 29th of last month. The U.S. Department of Defense stated in the report that this year’s estimated number of China's nuclear warheads is 400, surpassing the 2020 estimate of 200 by more than double, indicating a rapid expansion of nuclear forces in just two years. It further projected that at the current pace of China's nuclear force expansion, China would possess more than 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035.

The U.S. Department of Defense also pointed out that China has constructed more than 300 additional silos for intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches and is transitioning to a 'Launch On Warning (LOW)' posture capable of detecting enemy missile attacks and retaliating immediately.

Additionally, the U.S. Department of Defense analyzed that China’s ballistic missile testing and hypersonic missile force enhancement are progressing rapidly. The Department emphasized, "China conducted 135 ballistic missile tests last year, which is more than the total number of ballistic missile tests worldwide combined," and "By July last year, the flight distance of China's hypersonic missiles exceeded 40,000 km, which is the longest flight distance among all ground-attack weapons worldwide."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.