The Pentagon on Tuesday released its 2020 report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China. Its examination of China's rapidly evolving nuclear weapons strategy should serve as a wake-up call to Joe Biden. Speaking last month, Biden pledged that he "will work to bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons, so that the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are never repeated." Fine words. Unfortunately, fine words cannot alone provide for American security. Biden's present nuclear weapons strategy, completely disconnected from the nuclear weapons activity of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, reflects strategic delusion. The Pentagon report documents how, over the next decade, China will dramatically increase its nuclear weapons stockpile and advance its corollary strike capability. Considering that Joe Biden is pledging to scale back the modernization of U.S. nuclear forces and reduce the U.S. stockpile of low-yield nuclear weapons, this report gives added reason to be concerned about his plan. Consider the following passage: China’s nuclear forces will significantly evolve over the next decade as it modernizes, diversifies, and increases the number of its land, sea, and air-based nuclear delivery platforms. Over the next decade, China’s nuclear warhead stockpile- currently estimated to be in the low 200s - is projected to at least double in size as China expands and modernizes its nuclear forces. China is pursuing a 'nuclear triad' with the development of a nuclear capable air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) and improving its ground and sea-based nuclear capabilities. New developments in 2019 further suggest that China intends to increase the peacetime readiness of its nuclear forces by moving to a launch-on-warning (LOW) posture with an expanded silo-based force." The report later adds that "China also is applying substantial research and development resources to nuclear fusion, hypersonic weapons technology, and the deployment and hardening of its expanding multipurpose satellite constellation. These actions represent China's determination to develop a nuclear force that can credibly threaten the effective annihilation of the U.S. homeland. True, the United States would still have at least eight times as many warheads as China even if Beijing were to double its existing stockpile. But 400 nuclear warheads is more than enough to smash every major U.S. city with multiple warheads. Moreover, it would be folly to ignore China's investment in hypersonic glide vehicles, its development of "launch on warning" activities, and its survivable nuclear command and control apparatus. These activities are complicated and expensive. It is additionally noteworthy that China is throwing so much money at nuclear weapons efforts when it could be using those funds to build up its conventional forces for conflict in the East and South China Seas. This is a strong indication not simply of Xi's determination to develop a credible nuclear deterrent, but to develop a strike force that could be confidently employed to effect. Whoever wins the November presidential election must keep front and center the most intrinsic responsibility of the oath they will swear on Jan. 20. To "protect, preserve, and defend" America and the American way of life. New nuclear arms treaties should be seen as fulfilling a long term service of that oath. But those treaties cannot come at the expense of America's eroded nuclear deterrence. The best way to avoid nuclear war is the sustained U.S. assurance that it alone can win any such war. That is the best and only foundation from which to pursue nuclear arms control talks.
The problem is while no one was really watching them during the bush and obama years they could have bread a crap load of U233 in the last decade or 2 and no one would have noticed.
More nuclear weapons brought to you by the same folks who run the Wuhan Lab. what could go wrong? I once was waiting at the port by NJ and a talk radio program was discussing how the port and all its ships and containers were only so far away from millions of people. think of the west coast of the U.S. it's bad that people want to have such horrible weapons. I also read something about China having over 200 of these labs. I wonder how many exist in the world?
