China will have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, Pentagon warns

Robert Besser
03 Dec 2022, 04:34 GMT+10

According to a Pentagon report, if China continues with its current nuclear buildup pace, it could have a stockpile of 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035
The report, which primarily covers activities in 2021, said China currently has a nuclear stockpile of more than 400 warheads
China says its arsenal is dwarfed by those of the United States and Russia, and that it is ready for dialogue, but only if Washington reduces its nuclear stockpile to China's level

WASHINGTON, D.C.: According to a Pentagon report, if China continues with its current nuclear buildup pace, it could have a stockpile of 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035.

"They've got a rapid buildup that is kind of too substantial to keep under wraps," a senior U.S. defense official said during a news briefing on the Pentagon's annual report on China's military.

"It does raise questions about whether they're kind of shifting away from a strategy that was premised on what they referred to as a lean and effective deterrent."

The report, which primarily covers activities in 2021, said China currently has a nuclear stockpile of more than 400 warheads.

The Pentagon's projection for China's nuclear arsenal of 1,000 warheads by 2030 remained unchanged, the official said, adding that the projection for 2035 was based upon an unchanged pace of expansion.

China says its arsenal is dwarfed by those of the United States and Russia, and that it is ready for dialogue, but only if Washington reduces its nuclear stockpile to China's level.

The United States has a stockpile of about 3,700 nuclear warheads, of which roughly 1,740 were deployed, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think-tank.

The report also raised concerns over increasing pressure by Beijing on self-ruled Taiwan. However, the U.S. official said Washington did not see an invasion of Taiwan as imminent.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Los Angeles Herald.

More Information

57 ℉

Fair in Los Angeles/Usc

International

Section

France military ordered out of Burkina Faso in west Africa

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso: As Burkina Faso, in western Africa, faces an Islamist insurgency, it is set to end a military ...

As births continue to fall, Japan seeks incentives for parents

TOKYO, Japan: Japanese Prime minister Fumio Kishida said this week that it was "now or never" for Japan, one of ...

US moving towards offering annual Covid vaccines to most Americans

WASHINGTON D.C.: As part of its efforts to simplify the national COVID-19 vaccine strategy, the US Food and Drug Administration ...

December crossings of US border set record

WASHINGTON D.C.: US authorities said this week that a surge in Cubans and Nicaraguans arriving at the US border with ...

Canada faces resistance to cutbacks from oil-producing Alberta

OTTAWA, Canada: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government plans to implement its long-awaited workforce transition bill, the "Just Transition," ...

Japan's Kishida expected to visit Ukraine for talks with Zelenskiy

TOKYO, Japan: The Yomiuri newspaper has reported that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to visit Kyiv in February ...

California

Section