Belligerent China Expands its nuclear Arsenal
DF-5B intercontinental ballistic missiles
On Monday, The New York Times quoted nuclear weapons experts from the Federation of American Scientists as saying that China has built a new silo for launching nuclear missiles in the Hami prefecture of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. China now owns 110 silos, according to the US media. On June 30, the Washington Post published the findings of researchers from US think tank James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies, who identified around 120 new silos near the city of Yumen, Northwest China’s Gansu Province. The results of both reports are based on pictures taken by satellites.
There has been no official Chinese response to these US reports. However China has unofficially claimed that those silos are just foundations of wind power plants, though such claim has also not been confirmed by official sources.
There are three major reasons why China In general, have begun increasing their nuclear weapons. First, China has made USA its main strategic enemy and has creased the rivalry. Next by attacking Indian troops in Galwan Valley from across the LAC between India and Chinese Occupied Ladhak, it has woken of a sleeping giant like India. As it has adopted various policies to lay siege to Indian State of Arunachal and Union Territory of Ladhak now it is fearing severe backlash from India which may result in a freedom to the forcibly subjugated people of Tibet. Thus the risk of strategic confrontation between both China and USA and between China and India has increased tremendously.
So the Chinese have started strengthening their nuclear weapons arsenal, as it naturally assumes that USA and to some extent India will do the same. Second, China now thinks that its economic and technological strength is sufficient beyond doubt to support the expansion of its nuclear weapons arsenal whereas I dia may not be in the same position. Economically the Chinese even regard the USA position as week.
The Pentagon’s 2020 report to the US Congress assessing China’s military capabilities suggested that China would double its warhead stockpile in the next decade. Also, three Republican senators have gone on to say in June that China would have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2029, achieving some kind of “nuclear parity with the US.”
What is China doing with its nuclear arsenal? It’s the country’s top secret. The New York Times article speculated that silos at Yumen and Hami “are clearly being built to be discovered” by US satellites and they “can play a shell game” probably only filling part of them with missiles.
Curiously the US media and relevant institutes have repeatedly hyped the newly discovered “silos” in China. Their fundamental purpose may be to exert public opinion pressure on China and exert pressure on India also to join the American Camp.
They have always believed that Western public opinion could influence India and that increasing the pressure can force India to change its attitude towards the American bandwagon. Even the US forces are also keen to further modernize the US nuclear arsenal. The media and the USA military organizations thus by hyping China’s “silos,” provide more reason for the US to upgrade its nuclear arsenal.
Obviously, China hopes that the current nuclear arsenal gap between the US and China can be bridged within a comfortable time. It also hopes that its increased size of nuclear Arsenal will give it advantage and reduce the US strategic and coercive advantages against China.
However, Beijing needs to be clear that in an era when economic and technological capabilities of even India is increasing by leaps and bounds. Thus the implementation of a policy of increased nuclear Arsenal may result in increased risk of not only a China-US strategic collision but also a china India collision. It seems there is a sense of Madness for China to intensify the building of its nuclear deterrent.
China it seems is worried that its nuclear deterrent is not sufficient. They should put themselves in India’s shoes and consider what India’s strategic concerns will be. Even India as a rising power may have more reasons to make their nuclear arsenal stronger.
We don’t know whether Chinese are naive or hypocritical. The strengthening of its nuclear deterrent may even provoke a world war.
In the face of some extreme or repeated provocations in Ladhak and the Communist Party’s arrogance in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Straits, USA and others have no alternatives except taking resolute countermeasures against such arrogance.
China is thus building its Nuclear Muscle to convince both India and US that if and when a war breaks out, then China’s strength is sufficient to combat any escalation of the conflict until the Chinese are clear victors.
Instead China should know that though India will not get into a nuclear race with it, it is fully aware of the level of nuclear arsenal India needs to build. It would be a nuclear force strong enough to make the Chinese – from the PLA to the Chinese Communist Party – fear and desist from any fresh provocation to India.
