China Says U.S. Bringing World Closer to Nuclear War After U.S. Military Report

A Chinese official has responded to the Pentagon's latest report on China's military power in comments shared with Newsweek, saying it is the United States, not China, that is bringing the world closer to nuclear war. The Department of Defense released on Wednesday its annual "Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China," covering a wide range of assessments regarding China and its People's Liberation Army, the world's largest armed forces and the top military competitor of the U.S. Among the more notable findings was the observation that China was "Accelerating the large-scale expansion of its nuclear forces," which it was seeking to "Modernize" and "Diversify." The report noted that the current number of Chinese warheads is believed to be "In the low-200s," but stated that this number was expected to grow. "The accelerating pace of the PRC's nuclear expansion may enable the PRC to have up to 700 deliverable nuclear warheads by 2027," the report found. "China abides by the policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, and undertakes unequivocally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones. China has never participated in any form of nuclear arms race, nor has it deployed nuclear weapons abroad.". Beijing is the only one to have committed to a "No-first-use" policy, a pledge to not be the first to use nuclear weapons in the event of a conflict, and China has also traditionally not maintained a nuclear triad, or a combination of aerial, ground and naval warhead-equipped assets. "The PRC's lack of transparency regarding the scope and scale of its nuclear modernization program raises questions regarding its future intent as it fields larger, more capable nuclear forces," the report found. The report also found that China "Has possibly already established a nascent 'nuclear triad' with the development of a nuclear capable air-launched ballistic missile and improvement of its ground and sea-based nuclear capabilities."