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Pentagon report says China rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 20 August 2025 9:40 AM

China has embarked on a rapid and sustained increase in the size and capability of its nuclear forces, the Pentagon said in its annual assessment of China's military capabilities.

The commander of the US Strategic Command, General Anthony Cotton, claimed in March that the directive from Chinese President Xi Jinping that China's military be ready to seize Taiwan by 2027 was driving a build-up of nuclear weapons that could be launched from land, air and sea.

This comes as the spokesperson for the Chinese Defense Ministry, Zhang Xiaogang, said in December that the intention of China's nuclear weapons development is to "safeguard the country's strategic security."

In its 2023 national defense policy, China renewed its longstanding pledge that it would not be the first to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances. The "no first use" policy also includes a promise that China will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear-armed state.

In response to questions, the defense ministry in Beijing said "a nuclear war cannot be won and must not be waged." China, it said, adhered to a "nuclear strategy of self-defense and pursues a no-first-use policy."

China's defense ministry said it opposed "any attempt to hype up the so-called 'Chinese nuclear threat' in an effort to smear and defame China and deliberately mislead the international community."

According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a Chicago-based non-profit, China is expanding and modernizing its weapons stockpile faster than any other nuclear-armed power and has accumulated about 600 warheads.

It claimed China is building about 350 new missile silos and several new bases for road mobile launchers. It estimated that China's military, the People's Liberation Army, had about 712 launchers for land-based missiles, but not all were assigned for nuclear weapons.

Of those launchers, 462 can be loaded with missiles "that can reach the continental United States," it said.

Many of the PLA's launchers are for shorter-range missiles intended for regional targets but most of those were not assigned for a nuclear strike, the Bulletin's assessment further said.

In its report, the Pentagon estimated that the PLA would have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030, as it seeks to build a bigger force ranging from low-yield, precision-strike missiles to intercontinental ballistic missiles with multi-megaton explosive impact.

The US and its Western allies, the UK included, support Taiwan to antagonize Beijing by siding with the island's secessionists, engaging in frequent naval maneuvers around the island.

China views US actions as extremely provocative, responding to such developments with increased military activity of its own, including naval patrols and air sorties near Taiwan.

Beijing has repeatedly expressed its opposition to what it sees as US interference in what it considers internal affairs, especially regarding Taiwan, which China regards as a breakaway province.

While the US claims that its military presence is meant to ensure regional stability and uphold international maritime law, China argues that such moves undermine regional peace and security.