Tuesday, January 04, 2022
Despite the deal by the UN veto powers
China wants to “modernize” nuclear arsenal
The UN veto powers agree that nuclear weapons should not be able to spread further. That leaves China indifferent, however. The country has announced that it will continue to “modernize” its arsenal. At the same time, Beijing is making a request to Russia and the United States.
One day after the UN veto powers declared that they wanted to prevent further spread of nuclear weapons, China announced that it would continue to “modernize” its nuclear arsenal. China will “continue to modernize its nuclear arsenal for reasons of reliability and security,” Fu Cong, head of arms control at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told journalists in Beijing.
He also urged the United States and Russia to take the first step in reducing nuclear weapons stocks. The US and Russia still held 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads, Fu said. “You have to reduce your nuclear arsenal in an irreversible and legally binding way,” he demanded. At the same time, he rejected allegations from Washington: “US claims that China is significantly expanding its nuclear capabilities are untrue,” said Fu.
China is gearing up quickly
Internationally, there are concerns about the modernization of the Chinese armed forces, especially after the army announced the development of a hypersonic missile at five times the speed of sound last year. China is upgrading its nuclear arsenal faster than expected, according to a November report by the US Department of Defense. According to this, China could have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.
China, Russia and the three Western UN veto powers, the USA, Great Britain and France, issued a joint declaration on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on Monday, regardless of current diplomatic tensions. In it they affirmed the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and the avoidance of nuclear war.
“We deeply believe that further spread of such weapons must be prevented,” the statement said. “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be waged.” Such a joint explanation is rare. It came before a conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is due to take place this year and is being coordinated by France.