News / China

Beijing: US report on Chinese warheads filled with bias

Wednesday, 02 September 2020 10:11 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 02 September 2020 10:16 AM ]

China's military vehicles carrying DF-26 ballistic missiles travel past Tiananmen Gate during a military parade in the capital Beijing. (File photo by Reuters)

China has dismissed a US report that claims Beijing is expected to double the number of its nuclear warheads.

In its annual report to Congress, the Pentagon said on Tuesday that China is expected to at least double the number of its nuclear warheads over the next decade from the low 200s now and is nearing the ability to launch nuclear strikes by land, air and sea, a capacity known as a triad.

Reacting to the claims, Chinese Foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said in a news briefing on Wednesday that the Pentagon’s report is filled with bias.

Pentagon claims China aims to double its nuclear arsenal

The US Defense Department claims that China aims to double its nuclear arsenal "over the next decade."

The report comes amid a US push to get China to join the talks with Russia over the so-called New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the last bilateral accord limiting the two countries' nuclear arsenals that is due to expire in February 2021.

Beijing has repeatedly refused to join the talks given the fact that the US nuclear arsenal is about 20 times the size of China’s.

Back in July, a senior Chinese diplomat said Beijing would “be happy to” participate in trilateral arms control negotiations, on the condition that Washington significantly reduces its arsenal to match China’s own level.

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