So says U.S. Senator Tom Cotton. More exactly, he says that China’s supply of nukes has “expanded by more than 100%” since Xi took over in 2012 “and that the Pentagon estimates the expansion will increase by 500% before it is through,” according to The Washington Times.
China’s communist regime, until very recently, maintained a much smaller nuclear arsenal compared with those of Russia and the United States, contending it needed only enough missiles to deter a nuclear strike by a hostile power.
The occasion of Senator Cotton’s alarum was a session of the Senate Armed Services Committee, at which Air Force General Anthony Cotton testified that he’s been losing sleep over China’s rapid buildup of its inventory of nuclear weapons (Washington Times, “China’s nuclear expansion is ‘breathtaking’ in number of weapons and pace, Stratcom general says,” February 29, 2024).
Chinese military leaders are speeding up the deployment of nuclear forces, including sharp increases in land-based missiles, missile-firing submarines and a new bomber capable of launching a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile, [Gen. Cotton] said.
The commander warned in his prepared testimony that nuclear war dangers are increasing because of strategic cooperation between China and other U.S. adversaries, notably Russia, North Korea and Iran. Chinese and Russian nuclear bombers recently conducted joint patrols, an indication that the two authoritarian allies are prepared to combine their nuclear power, he said….
“Today, the PRC likely has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads and, should it continue building weapons at its current pace, could have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030,” Gen. Cotton said in his statement.
According to the general, China’s rapid development of nukes means that it isn’t bothering to even pretend to limit itself to the requirements of a “minimum deterrent” force.
He believes or says he believes that America’s strategic forces are still superior to those of our adversaries and can still deter them. But he would doubtless agree with U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican member of the Committee who adds that the United States needs to hustle to update its own nuclear and space programs to counter the escalating threats from China and Russia.
“Unfortunately,” says Wicker, “the current administration has naively maintained the status quo.”
Also see:
StopTheChinazis.org: “Can the United States Fend Off China (and Russia) in Space?”
“Recently there has been excitement about Russia’s potentially deploying a nuclear weapon in space, one that when detonated would blind ‘proliferated constellations.’ If Russia can do it, China will not be far behind.”
