China has refuted US claims that it poses a “nuclear threat.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning has dismissed Washington’s concerns about China’s nuclear arsenal as unfounded. Her statement follows a report in The New York Times on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden had quietly updated the Nuclear Employment Guidance, targeting China more directly.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mao expressed Beijing’s “grave concern” over the report. “The US has labeled China a ‘nuclear threat’ and used this as a pretext to avoid its nuclear disarmament obligations,” she said.
Mao emphasized that China’s nuclear arsenal is “significantly smaller than that of the US,” reiterating Beijing’s “no first use” policy and commitment to maintaining its nuclear capabilities at the “minimum level required for national security.” She declared that China has “no intention to engage in any nuclear arms race” with other countries.
“The US is the primary source of nuclear threats and strategic risks in the world,” the spokeswoman asserted.
The Pentagon has projected that China will double its operational nuclear warhead stockpile to over 1,000 by 2030. Currently, the US has an estimated 5,550 warheads, while Russia possesses 6,255, according to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The White House has downplayed China’s concerns, with spokesman Sean Savett characterizing the nuclear strategy update as a routine procedure that was “not a response to any specific entity, country, or threat.” However, US officials have repeatedly labeled Beijing as “a challenge” to global peace and accused it of economic and military coercion in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing, in turn, has blamed the US for the escalating tensions, urging Washington to abandon its “Cold-War mentality.”