What are the strategic implications of China’s accelerated production of nuclear weapons?
Late last month, the US Department of Defense published its 2022 China Military Power Report, outlining key developments in the People’s Liberation Army’s nuclear weapons production program.
The Pentagon noted that over the next decade, China aims to “modernise, diversify, and expand” its nuclear forces, with current efforts exceeding previous attempts “in both scale and complexity”.
“The PRC is investing in and expanding the number of its land, sea, and air-based nuclear delivery platforms and constructing the infrastructure necessary to support this major expansion of its nuclear forces,” the Pentagon report stated.
“The PRC is also supporting this expansion by increasing its capacity to produce and separate plutonium by constructing fast breeder reactors and reprocessing facilities.”
