China is determined to strengthen its nuclear deterrence capabilities.
(Baonghean.vn) - On January 30, the official newspaper of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China stated that the country needs to strengthen its nuclear deterrence capabilities and its ability to withstand attacks in order to keep pace with the developing nuclear strategies of the United States and Russia.
Recently, the American news outlet Huffington Post published a leaked draft of the Nuclear Capabilities Assessment, stating that the administration of President Donald Trump may be pursuing the development of new nuclear weapons and may clearly be open to a nuclear response to major non-nuclear attacks.
The PLA Daily argues that this “unprecedented” move by Washington, combined with improvements in the quality of nuclear arsenals in both the US and Russia, means that both countries value deterrence and combat readiness.
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| China's nuclear weapons are becoming increasingly destructive. Photo: AP |
The article, written by two researchers from the PLA Academy of Military Science, includes the following passage: “In today’s unpredictable world, to enhance our country’s strategic deterrence capabilities, to support our great power status… we need to strengthen the credibility of our nuclear deterrence and counter-nuclear attack capabilities.”
This article states that a shift is important despite China's development of nuclear weapons to avoid being bullied by nuclear powers, while affirming that it will always adhere to the "no first use" principle (meaning it will not provoke any country with nuclear weapons, but will respond appropriately if attacked), and the ultimate goal is nuclear elimination.
According to the article, neither Russia nor the US is giving up nuclear weapons, as each country embraces high-tech weapons capabilities, alluding to the US Congressional Budget Office's estimate that maintaining and modernizing the country's nuclear arsenal will cost more than $1.2 trillion over the next 30 years.
The PLA Daily reported that this expenditure led to a corresponding Russian military modernization program, aimed at boosting the sharing of advanced weapons in its nuclear triad to at least 90% by 2021.
