China is considering tripling its arsenal of nuclear warheads to 900 by 2035, at a time when tensions with the United States over Taiwan are expected to escalate further, sources close to the matter said on Saturday.
The project, designed by the People’s Liberation Army, has already been approved by President Xi Jinping, the head of the armed forces, who has been keen to bolster Beijing’s deterrence against Washington, the Chinese sources said.
With the ruling Communist Party bolstering the country’s military capabilities, the United States said last year China was on track to increase its arsenal of nuclear warheads to 1,500 by 2035, when it aims to complete the modernization of its military.
Some foreign affairs experts warn that if China achieves the goal of modernizing its military, the Asian nation could abandon its “non-first-mover” policy.
In November, China’s top military body reaffirmed the importance of lethal capabilities, saying Russia’s strong nuclear deterrent has prevented a head-on contest between NATO and Moscow despite its aggression against Ukraine, the sources said.
The number of nuclear warheads in China’s possession is likely to reach 550 in 2027, the centenary year of the founding of the country’s armed forces, and 900 in 2035, the sources added.
China welcomes the visit proposed by the US Treasury Secretary.
Worldwide, Russia possesses 5,977 nuclear warheads, while the United States possesses 5,428, according to estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
With the ruling Communist Party bolstering the country’s military capabilities, the United States said last year China was on track to increase its arsenal of nuclear warheads to 1,500 by 2035.
Tensions between China and the United States have escalated, especially after former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, then the country’s third-ranking official, visited Taiwan in early August.
Fears are growing that Taiwan, a self-governing democratic country, will become a focus of military tension in the Asia-Pacific region in the near future, as Beijing considers the island a renegade province that must be reunified with the mainland, due to the strength if necessary.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they broke up in 1949 as a result of a civil war.
Washington switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but the United States has substantial but unofficial exchanges with Taiwan, supplying it with billions of dollars in weapons and defense parts.
