China Considers Increasing Nuclear Warheads to 900 by 2035

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] It is reported that the Chinese military is considering increasing its nuclear warheads to 900, three times the current number, by 2035.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to foreign media on the 12th, the Central Military Commission, the highest military authority of the Chinese military, analyzed at a meeting in November last year that the reason Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have not directly clashed over the Ukraine crisis is because Russia's strong nuclear power acts as a deterrent.

The Ukraine crisis has become an opportunity for China to re-recognize the importance of nuclear power.

Accordingly, it is considering increasing the number of nuclear warheads from the current 300 to 550 by 2027 and to 900 by 2035, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has also agreed to this plan, Kyodo News reported.

At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party last October, President Xi hinted at increasing nuclear power by stating, "We will build a powerful strategic deterrence system (based on nuclear power)."

China does not disclose the number of its nuclear warheads.

Earlier, the U.S. Department of Defense estimated in its 2022 report on "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China" that China has about 400 operational nuclear warheads and predicted that this number is likely to increase to 1,500 by 2035.