China denies rapid nuclear arms growth
BEIJING – A senior Chinese arms control official denied Tuesday that his government is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal, though he said it is taking steps to modernize its nuclear forces.
Fu Cong, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s arms control department, said China is working to ensure its nuclear deterrent meets the minimum level necessary for national defense.
“On the assertions made by U.S. officials that China is expanding dramatically its nuclear capabilities, first, let me say that this is untrue,” he said at a briefing in Beijing.
The briefing was held a day after China, the U.S., Russia, Great Britain and France issued a joint statement on preventing nuclear war or an arms race. The statement was supposed to be timed to the start of a global conference on disarmament at the U.N., but the meeting has been postponed because of a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The U.S. Defense Department said in a report in November that China is expanding its nuclear force faster than previously predicted and could have more than 1,000 warheads by 2030. The U.S. has 3,750 nuclear weapons.
The U.S. has also raised concern about analyst reports based on satellite imagery that China is building missile silos in its northwestern desert and its test of a hypersonic missile last summer.
Fu would not confirm the missile silos but said the size of China’s nuclear force should not be estimated based on the satellite photos.
He said China does need to take steps to make sure its nuclear force is sufficient in light of a changing security environment in Asia. He cited U.S. talk of deploying intermediate-range non-nuclear missiles in the region. India also has nuclear weapons, as does its neighbor Pakistan.
Fu stuck by the Chinese position that it would not join nuclear arms reduction talks between the U.S. and Russia, as the American side is pushing for. He called on both to reduce their arsenals, by far the largest in the world.