China warns US nuclear policy will fuel arms race and threaten peace

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman accuses Washington of using nuclear weapons for its own geopolitical ends

US Nuclear Posture Review is ‘blatantly targeting China’ in deterrence strategy, Wang Wenbin says

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Beijing has accused the US of selectively promoting an international nuclear arms control agenda to suppress its adversaries. Photo: AP

Published: 10:10pm, 28 Oct 2022Updated: 10:52pm, 28 Oct 2022

The United States’ nuclear arms policy would fuel a nuclear arms race and jeopardise peace and stability, China’s foreign ministry warned on Friday.

Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that through its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) released on Thursday, the US was aiming to use nuclear weapons “as an instrument to promote geopolitical goals and going totally against the international expectation of preventing nuclear war and avoiding a nuclear arms race”.

“The US policy reflects their hegemonic logic of seeking absolute military superiority, which will stimulate a nuclear arms race,” Wang said.

“By strengthening the role of nuclear weapons in its national security policy and lowering the threshold for their use, the US has increasingly become a source of risk of nuclear conflict.”

In the NPR, the Department of Defence identified China as the US’ greatest security challenge and questioned the scope, pace and lack of transparency in Chinese nuclear expansion.

The review concluded that an increased nuclear capability would allow Beijing to “adopt a broader range of strategies to achieve its objectives, to include nuclear coercion and limited nuclear first use”.

In response, it recommended a “flexible deterrence strategy and force posture” tailored to counter China, including the deployment of W76-2 low yield submarine-launched ballistic missile warheads, globally deployable bombers, dual-capable fighter aircraft, and air-launched cruise missiles.