Beijing: As a deterrent against the US, China wants to increase the number of its nuclear warheads to 900 by 2035, according to Chinese sources quoted by the Kyodo news agency.
The plan to double the nation's nuclear arsenal has already been approved, according to people with knowledge of the situation, the Japanese outlet reported on Saturday.
According to the sources, the Chinese People's Liberation Army's top brass reiterated the value of nuclear deterrence in November. They did so after drawing conclusions from the conflict in Ukraine, where the West has refrained from a direct conflict with Russia due to its possession of the greatest number of nuclear warheads in the world despite having provided Kiev with weapons, funds, training, and intelligence.
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According to Kyodo's sources, China's warhead count will probably increase from 400 to 550 by 2027 and 900 by 2035.
The number provided by the agency is less than the Pentagon's forecast from last fall, which stated that it anticipates Beijing to have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035.
In any case, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that China will still lag far behind Russia and the US in terms of nuclear arsenal, with 5,977 and 5,428 nuclear warheads, respectively.
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Since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August despite Beijing's objections (Beijing views the island as an inalienable part of its territory), tensions between the US and China have risen. President Joe Biden has pledged to defend the island if the Chinese government decides to retake it by force.
Washington supports Taipei's independence movement and sells it weapons.
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A conflict between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan could start as early as 2025, US Air Mobility Command chief General Mike Minihan warned his subordinates in a memo at the end of January.