2 In that sense, China’s nuclear forces are intended to check U.S. Conventional forces are thought to be where wars are won or lost. 1 Strategists in Beijing have long thought that the destructive force of nuclear weapons limits their utility, while conventional forces are more flexible and usable in conflict. It built what it describes as a “lean and effective” nuclear deterrent, with the intentions of deterring a nuclear attack and preventing nuclear coercion. Unlike Russia and the United States, China has found nuclear weapons to be of rather limited utility in war-fighting. In the U.S.-Chinese context, policymakers should be more focused on how conventional weapons and related strategies could impact the nuclear calculus between the two countries. policymakers need to understand Chinese nuclear strategy.
Quantitative comparisons of nuclear arsenals are a relatively crude manner of understanding nuclear risks and, in the case of the U.S.-Chinese relationship, wholly insufficient. Nevertheless, China’s capabilities represent a substantial threat that must not be ignored. nuclear forces in the foreseeable future. Despite the rising numbers, China seems unlikely to quantitatively outpace U.S.
Even if doubled, this is substantially lower than the approximately 1,500 deployed strategic nuclear forces the United States maintains on alert daily under the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Department of Defense estimates China’s deployed nuclear forces to number in the low 200s. intelligence community described how China is pursuing “the most rapid expansion and platform diversification of its nuclear arsenal in its history” and is intending to “at least double the size of its nuclear stockpile during the next decade.” Although deeply concerning, this description should be put in context. In its recent annual threat assessment, the U.S.
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