Commentary
In recent years, Beijing has spent billions of dollars adding to its nuclear arsenal—not just more nuclear bombs and warheads, but also new missiles, transporters, silos, submarines, and bombers. But what is behind this buildup of China’s nuclear forces in terms of nuclear strategy and geopolitics?
For decades, the Chinese were more or less satisfied with possessing a relatively small nuclear force. Beijing tested its first atomic (uranium-fission) bomb in 1964 and its first hydrogen (fusion) bomb in 1969. It also test-launched a nuclear-tipped missile in 1966.
And yet, for decades, China’s nuclear force remained small and on low alert, based on a “no first use” (NFU) strategy. From the 1980s to the early 2000s, various Western estimates put China’s atomic arsenal at no more than 160 nuclear warheads, which placed it last among the declared “nuclear club,” which included the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France….