China likely to have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035: Pentagon report

美 "中, 2035년 핵탄두 1천500개 유사시 北WMD 확보 나설 수도"

The U.S. Department of Defense believes China currently has over four-hundred nuclear warheads.
But that number is expected to jump almost three times over a decade driven by modernization and expansion of its nuclear forces.
Kim Dami provides a deeper analysis.

China will likely own a stockpile of 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035 if its nuclear development continues at the current pace.
That's almost quadruple what Beijing is known to have currently.
This is according to a report by the Pentagon released on Tuesday which says that China has continued to speed up the modernization, diversification, and expansion of its nuclear weapons.
The latest figure reflects mounting concerns by Washington over China's intentions to stretch out its nuclear arsenal such as by ordering the Northern Theater Command to engage in a range of operations in the event of a crisis.
That could include, according to the Pentagon, a military intervention into North Korea to secure weapons of mass destruction or preserve North Korea as a buffer state.

"China is trying to help this North Korean regime not to collapse and that in that sense, also to have the WMDs, one of the most important agendas, to bring stability on North Korean regime."

In fact, the number of nuclear warheads China is expected to acquire over the years could be bigger than the Pentagon expects.
The expert added that is could match or exceed Washington's, which is 3-thousand 750.
While seeing no imminent invasion of Taiwan, the Pentagon voiced concern that China could conduct air and ground-attack operations against Taiwan.
China is known to spend the most money on defense in the world followed by the U.S., but Tuesday's report pointed out the spending is much bigger with several categories not officially included in the defense budget.
Kim Dami, Arirang News.

#China #nuclear_warhead #Arirang_News

2022-11-30, 21:00 (KST)

[EdinAibak]

Great salute to China for increasing nuclear triads in US and Russia level.🇨🇳 👏🏻

[janyakkarlo]

Only ??? I thought China must be possessing atleast 2000 nukes by now unofficially. When a smaller nation like US can have 6000+ nukes then a bigger state like China should have atleast 8000+ nukes .

[suportm]

China had no choice when the US was publicly talking about using tactical nuclear weapons against China and refusing to commit to a no-first use policy. US has obligation under NPT treaty to reduce nukes, but the US seem to interpret the treaty as everyone reduce nukes except for the US. Stupid.

[leonlim]

Only US is allowed to have nuclear war heads. lol

[leoneltoroc]

BanG Dream! - China 🇨🇳

The Legend of Genji - United States 🇺🇸