Monday, September 6th, 2021
Atomic abilities increased
NATO warns of China’s new missile silos
A report on new missile silos in China does not go unnoticed by NATO either. Secretary General Stoltenberg warns that Beijing could significantly expand its arsenal. He calls on the country to take responsibility for arms control.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed concern about China’s construction of new missile silos. The country could significantly increase its nuclear capabilities as a result, said the Norwegian at an alliance conference on arms control issues organized in Copenhagen. China is rapidly adding more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems to its nuclear weapon stocks. All of this is happening without restriction and completely in a non-transparent manner.
“As a global power, China has global responsibility for arms control,” said Stoltenberg to the Chinese government, which has so far largely refused to hold talks on the subject. Beijing would also benefit from mutual limitations, more transparency and predictability.
The Association of American Scientists (FAS) reported on new construction work at the end of July. With the help of satellite images near Hami in the northwest region of Xinjiang, their experts discovered a large area with silos for nuclear missiles under construction. Just a few weeks earlier, a similar new site with missile silos under construction had been found near Yumen in Gansu Province.
Previous silos an easy target?
The FAS experts estimate in July that there could be a total of more than 200 new missile silos. That would be more than Russia and half as much as the US would have in operation for its ICBMs. According to FAS estimates, China has around 350 nuclear warheads. The USA and Russia come to 4,000 each.
According to experts, behind the Chinese expansion there could be various motives for the leadership of state and party leader Xi Jinping, who is also chairman of the military commission and thus commander-in-chief. It could be a reaction to the modernization of the nuclear forces in the US, Russia and India, among other things. China could also worry that its previous silos are easily vulnerable.
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