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China Working On Doubling Nuclear Warheads: Pentagon |
The annual report on China's military to Congress marks the first time it has put a figure on the nuclear warheads in China. The American Scientists Federation estimated there are around 320 in China.
The Pentagon said the growth forecast was focused on factors like providing enough capacity for Beijing to double its nuclear weapons arsenal without the production of new fissile material.
The annual report comes as the U.S. Congress addresses the $700 billion bill of defense authorization pending in the face of increasing tensions between the two countries.
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera's Heidi Zhou-Castro says the bill amounts to three times China's annual defense budget.
She said Republican allies of US President Donald Trump want some of the funds to cover possible nuclear testing, which the Democrats reject.
Sbragia said in his statement that China is also close to completing its nuclear triad potential, as it is developing an air-launched ballistic missile that would have nuclear capabilities.
The report said that in October 2019, China publicly revealed the H-6N bomber as its first nuclear-capable air-to-air refuelling bomber.
Washington has repeatedly expressed its desire to expand an Obama-era nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia to include China instead of simply extending the pact, known as New START, when it expires in February.
China has shown no interest in joining the negotiation.
In July, a senior Chinese diplomat said Beijing would "be happy" to participate in trilateral arms control negotiations, but only if the US was willing to reduce its nuclear arsenal to China's level. Earlier this year, the Communist Party-backed tabloid Global Times said Beijing needed to expand the number of its nuclear warheads to 1,000 in a relatively short time.
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China Working On Doubling Nuclear Warheads: Pentagon |
"The US is said to possess something like 6,000 nuclear warheads, and the US has much more extensive military bases, with about 800 bases in more than 20 to 30 countries around the world. And so, even if China built some bases, it's still way behind the US."
Russia has roughly 4,300 warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Kingston Reif, director for disarmament and threat reduction policy at the Arms Control Association advocacy group, said China's growing nuclear arsenal should not be used as an excuse for the US and Russia to not extend New START.
It "further reinforces the importance of extending New START and the folly of conditioning extension on China and China's participation in arms control," Reif added.
Tensions have been simmering between China and the US for months.
Washington has taken issue with China's handling of the novel coronavirus outbreak and moves to curb freedoms in Hong Kong. The increasingly aggressive posture comes as President Donald Trump bids for re-election in November.
Another source of tension has been Taiwan. China has stepped up its military activity around the democratic island Beijing claims as sovereign Chinese territory, sending fighter jets and warships on exercises nearby.
The Pentagon report, based on 2019 information, said China's military continued to "enhance its readiness" to prevent Taiwan's independence and carry out an invasion if needed.
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