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US feels pressure to respond to China’s expanding nuclear capability: senior Pentagon official
- Beijing’s drive to modernise its military weaponry compels Washington to ‘maintain deterrence’ alongside allies and partners, says Ely Ratner
- ‘It’s my firm belief right now that the forces of stability are outpacing the forces of aggression and coercion,’ adds Indo-Pacific specialist
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Mark Magnierin New York
As China and North Korea dramatically increase their nuclear weapons capabilities, the US has come under pressure to respond by modernising its own atomic arsenal and mapping out an expanded nuclear umbrella and contingency planning, a senior Pentagon official said on Thursday.
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China, which has declined to join non-proliferation talks, could have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, up from some 400 managed by the People’s Liberation Army, according to a Defence Department report released late last year.
However, its total is still a fraction of the estimated 5,977 held by Russia or the 5,428 held by the US, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
“It’s no secret the PLA is in the midst of a major nuclear modernisation,” said Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs.
“Ensuring that we have the capabilities we need to maintain deterrence remains a number one priority for the United States as it relates to our allies and partners.”
US, Japan and Philippines hold first joint coastguard exercise in the South China Sea
One pillar in response to the changing dynamic in northeast Asia has been funding America’s nuclear modernisation. In 2021, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that Washington would spend US$634 billion over the next decade to upgrade its nuclear arsenal, a 28 per cent uptick compared with a previous 10-year projection.
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