Ryan Chan
China—which possesses the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal—is using its rapid nuclear development to deter adversaries, namely the United States and its Asian allies, and gain a strategic advantage without resorting to war, a think tank reported on Wednesday. China has consistently adhered to a nuclear strategy of self-defense, always maintaining its nuclear forces at the minimum level required for national security, and does not engage in an arms race," China's Embassy in Washington, D.C., said in a statement to Newsweek.
Estimated figures from the U.S. Defense Department and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show that China has built a nuclear stockpile of at least 600 warheads—an increase of 100 in one year. While the East Asian power is set to possess more than 1,000 warheads by 2030, this would still place Beijing far behind Moscow and Washington. As part of China's ongoing military modernization, President Xi Jinping has ordered the acceleration of strategic deterrence force development.
Beijing has also said it was "forced" to join the exclusive nuclear club—which currently includes nine nations—in response to nuclear threats, to end nuclear monopoly and to prevent a nuclear war. In a report titled "Implications of Chinese Nuclear Weapons Modernization for the United States and Regional Allies," the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., said China's rapid nuclear modernization seeks to create political and psychological effects that lead to "enormously important strategic and military effects" rather than to win a nuclear exchange.
The authors—John Lee, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Lavina Lee, a senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University in Australia—argued that these effects were fully aligned with what they described as China's "evolving notions" of strategic stability, strategic deterrence and strategic capabilities. According to the report, Beijing views strategic stability as a condition that supports the advancement of China's geopolitical and development objectives.
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