China has sharply expanded nuclear arsenal, US says
China has significantly expanded its nuclear stockpile over the past year and is now holding some 500 operational warheads, the US has said.
China has significantly expanded its nuclear stockpile over the past year and is now holding some 500 operational warheads, the US has said.
An annual report released by the Pentagon also said Beijing hoped to double its arsenal to over 1,000 warheads by 2030.
But it said China remained committed to a "no-first-strike" nuclear policy.
While the report said the rise exceeded projections, China's stockpile is still dwarfed by those of Russia and the US.
Russia has a nuclear arsenal of some 5,889 warheads and the US can field 5,244, according to the independent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
In 2021 the US Department of Defense estimated China had around 400 warheads.
"We're not trying to suggest a very large departure from where they [China] looked to be headed... but we are suggesting that they're on track to exceed those previous projections," a senior Pentagon official told reporters on Thursday, adding that the issue raised "a lot of concerns" for the US.
President Xi Jinping has declared China will field a "world-class military" by 2049. Since he came to power in 2012, he has sought to modernise the country's armed forces.
