Is China about to abandon its ‘no first use’ nuclear weapons policy?
- The growing US-China naval arms race is putting pressure on Beijing to reconsider its long-standing nuclear policy, analysts say
- But one source said that unlike the US, China is incapable of launching a pre-emptive strike and so has little choice but to retain “no first use” policy
China might come under pressure to reconsider its long-standing “no first use” nuclear policy as it engages in a maritime arms race with the United States, analysts have warned.
Nuclear competition is brewing between the two countries as China makes gains in weapons development and Washington tries to limit Beijing’s military build-up in the South China Sea.
The United States is still decades ahead in nuclear weapons development but a successful test late last year of China’s new submarine-launched ballistic missile, the JL-3, is cause for concern in Washington.
The test signals that China is moving ahead with a new class of strategic submarines called SSBNs, vessels that could be equipped with nuclear-armed JL-3s and that would be more difficult to detect than conventional land-based nuclear weapons.
In a sign of that growing concern, US President Donald Trump said in October that his decision to withdraw from a decades-old atomic accord with Russia was driven by a need to respond to China’s nuclear build-up.
US Vice-President Mike Pence has also stressed that the US Navy would “continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allowed” in the South China Sea – remarks that Beijing took as aimed at China.