China's military planners felt a small stockpiles was enough for defensive purposes in previous century but today's China is very different.
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| [Chinese ICBM] |
For decades, China maintained the second-smallest nuclear stockpile among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. However, there are significant indications that China is growing its nuclear-armed Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) capable of striking the US.
China is building ICBM silos in a remote part of China's Gobi Desert, according to newly obtained satellite pictures. Hundreds of additional missile silos appear to have been built in the western Gobi desert, based on those pictures. According to the US State Department, these events indicate that China's nuclear arsenal is rapidly expanding.
To begin with, if China wishes to join the nuclear arms race at this time, they are already far behind. China has 350 nuclear weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Some researchers think that these silos are for a Chinese ICBM known as the DF-41 (Dong Feng - 41) that can carry multiple nuclear warheads and reach targets as far away as 15,000 kilometers, implying that they might attack the US in under 30 minutes. So, why are we doing this now? What is the reason for this expansion?
According to Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear specialist, China is increasing its nuclear arsenal in part to retain a deterrent capable of withstanding a US first strike in sufficient numbers to overcome US missile defenses.
So, in essence, China wants to ensure that if a nuclear war breaks out, it would be able to respond. But it's at this point that things start to become interesting. As part of the so-called Shell Game, these silos might be used as decoys. This is how it goes. You construct a vast number of silos but only equip a handful with guns. Your adversary has no idea which silo contains missiles. In any case, your adversary would have to destroy each silo with their own warheads. This would give China an opportunity to retaliate. During the Cold War, it was a strategy adopted by the United States against the Soviet Union. According to some observers, China was the one that took it up.
However, there's a high probability that China is beefing up its nuclear arsenal in order to catch up to the US and Russia. China, in particular, is becoming more assertive in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea and Taiwan.
A more powerful nuclear arsenal may provide China with the deterrence and insurance policy it requires in the event of a conflict.
Except for China, every nation in the South China Sea region now utilizes a 200-mile EEZ threshold to assess its claims. China asserts that the South China Sea has been a part of their history. Countries, on the other hand, are beginning to protect their rights by expanding army numbers, weaponizing their territory, and provocation.
China, on the other hand, has long seen Taiwan as a lost colony and has vowed to annex the island by force. If China attacked Taiwan, they should have expected the US Seventh Fleet to arrive shortly, perhaps resulting in a war.
China denied everything a day after the nuclear reports were revealed, claiming that the satellite photos were of farm turbines. However, since the location was discovered to be in an area China typically utilizes as a rocket and satellite launch facility, the claim, which originally appeared in The Washington Post, acquired more credence.
Throughout the cold war China had a no first use policy when it came to nuclear weapons. China's military planners felt a small stockpiles was enough for defensive purposes. But today's China id very different. It's richer and stronger and not only thinking defensively.
Will the restrains that kept the last Cold War cold still work in a new one.
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DF - 41 : The DF-41, China's most advanced intercontinental missile (ICBM), created its debut at the National Day parade in national capital in 2019, causing a message to the globe that China has enough strategic nuclear energy to reply to any "nuclear blackmail" from any country, per Chinese military consultants.
According to the US company Center for Strategic and International Studies, the DF-41 missile has Associate in Nursing operational vary of quite fourteen kilometers and may carry regarding ten severally targetable nuclear warheads capable of touch anyplace on Earth, creating it the world's longest vary missile.
[This article may resemble TRT World's Decoded]