The latest assessment from the defense department said China had increased its arsenal of operational nuclear warheads from the estimated 400 in 2021 to more than 500 as of May this year.
The latest assessment from the defense department said China had increased its arsenal of operational nuclear warheads from the estimated 400 in 2021 to more than 500 as of May this year.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The latest assessment from the defense department said China had increased its arsenal of operational nuclear warheads from the estimated 400 in 2021 to more than 500 as of May this year.
“It is a complete transformation of China’s approach to nuclear weapons,” says M. Taylor Fravel, a professor of political science who specializes in security studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Pentagon’s annual report on China began in 2000, and despite current hot wars in both Ukraine and now the Middle East, the Pentagon assessment is closely watched as national security concerns on China continue to drive U.S. defense budgets and training priorities.
Analysts said the move demonstrated how Beijing’s military might blockade Taiwan and cut it off from critical energy supplies in the future.
The Pentagon report noted that “the PLA is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force if perceived as necessary by Beijing,” using an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
Those were demonstrated in certain respects during their response to the then-Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, to President Tsai’s transit of the United States," the senior defense official said, but also noted that the “PRC still perceives that they have some shortcomings that they have yet to fully address.”
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