‘Land, air and sea’: China’s nuclear arsenal to double by 2030

“China is committed to a defensive nuclear strategy, keeps its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security, and does not target any country,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Thursday.

“We firmly oppose the US side hyping up various versions of the ‘China threat’ narrative and making groundless allegations,” Mr Liu added.

More broadly, the Pentagon report highlighted that communications between the military leadership of China and the United States had continued to deteriorate into 2023, despite a significant expansion in Chinese military capabilities and a series of highly concerning close calls between US and Chinese military aircraft in the South China Sea.

The report said China’s navy – already the world’s largest by number of vessels – had grown to 370 ships and submarines, up from around 340 a year earlier. Among the new vessels launched in 2022 is the country’s third aircraft carrier, Fujian, which appears to be fitted with advanced aircraft-launching technology, representing a major departure from its older Soviet-style ships.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon shared videos showing what it said were instances when Chinese fighter jets had maneuvered dangerously close to US reconnaissance planes – swooping as close as 4.5 metres to the American aircraft.

The Defence Department said in Thursday’s report that it counted 180 such incidents in the two years since 2021 – more than in the entire preceding decade. It said the risky manoeuvres “increased the risk of a major accident, incident or crisis, including the potential for loss of life”.

The US reconnaissance flights over the South China Sea are lawful under international rules, but China – which claims sovereignty over most of the waterway – considers them an open provocation. Mr Liu said the Chinese measures were in response to US military vessels and aircraft conducting “frequent close-in reconnaissance” on China, including “657 sorties” in the South China Sea last year.

The Pentagon report noted that other parts of China’s military programs had probably expanded in the past year, including the construction of missile silo fields, the development of its bioweapons program, and efforts to establish overseas military bases beyond confirmed locations in Djibouti and Cambodia.

China’s defence spending has risen steadily in recent years, up 7.2 percent in 2023 to around $US212 billion. Much of it has been earmarked for cutting-edge technology and upgrades to make the country’s fighting forces combat ready. Beijing’s leadership has made public commitments to take Taiwan by force if necessary.

But cracks have appeared this year in the country’s senior military leadership. Defence minister Li Shangfu has disappeared from sight and is believed to have been ousted over corruption allegations. It follows the summer removal of high-level officials at one of the country’s top military units – the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force – that hint at a wider crackdown.

Beijing has yet to announce a new defence minister, and the Pentagon report said Chinese military leadership had “refused, cancelled and ignored” Washington’s requests to open military communication channels into 2023.

Washington Post