BEIJING, 6 Dec: China strictly adheres to its policy of no first use of nuclear weapons \u201cat any time and under any circumstances,\u201d its Defense Ministry said Tuesday in a scathing response to a U.S. report alleging a major buildup in Beijing\u2019s nuclear capabilities.
\nThe Pentagon last week released an annual China security report that warned Beijing would likely have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, and that it has provided no clarity on how it plans to use them.
\nThat report \u201cdistorts China\u2019s national defense policy and military strategy, makes groundless speculation about China\u2019s military development and grossly interferes in China\u2019s internal affairs on the issue of Taiwan,\u201d ministry spokesperson Tan Kefei said in a statement.
\nTan accused the U.S. of being the \u201cbiggest troublemaker and destroyer of world peace and stability,\u201d and repeated that Beijing has never renounced the use of force to conquer self-governing Taiwan, a U.S. ally that China considers part of its territory.
\nTan did not directly address the report\u2019s allegations about a Chinese nuclear buildup, but blamed the U.S. for raising nuclear tensions, particularly with its plan to help Australia build a fleet of submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology, which the French president has described as a \u201cconfrontation with China.\u201d
\nAustralia has said it will not seek to arm the submarines with nuclear weapons. Tan also accused the U.S. of having the world\u2019s largest nuclear arsenal, although that title is actually held by Russia, a close Chinese military, economic and diplomatic partner.
\nAs of 2022, Russia possesses a total of 5,977 nuclear warheads compared to 5,428 in the U.S. inventory, according to the Federation of American Scientists. China currently has 350 nuclear warheads, according to the federation.
\nChina has long adhered to what it calls a purely defensive national security strategy, including a claim that it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict. That stance has frequently been challenged at home and abroad, particularly if it comes to a confrontation over Taiwan.
\n\u201cWhat needs to be emphasized is that China firmly pursues the nuclear strategy of self-defense and defense, always adheres to the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circums-tances, and maintains its nuclear force at the minimum level required for national security,\u201d Tan said in the statement, which was posted on the ministry\u2019s website.
\nHis remarks came days after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. is at a pivotal point with China and will need military strength to ensure that American values, not Beijing\u2019s, set global norms in the 21st century.
\nAustin\u2019s speech Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum capped a week in which the Pentagon was squarely focused on China\u2019s rise and what that might mean for America\u2019s position in the world.
\nChina \u201cis the only country with both the will and, increasingly, the power to reshape its region and the international order to suit its authoritarian preferences,\u201d Austin said. \u201cSo let me be clear: We will not let that happen.\u201d (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING, 6 Dec: China strictly adheres to its policy of no first use of nuclear weapons \u201cat any time and under any circumstances,\u201d its Defense Ministry said Tuesday in a scathing response to a U.S. report alleging a major buildup in Beijing\u2019s nuclear capabilities. The Pentagon last week released an annual China security report that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-206430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}