Friday, April 26, 2013

Is China Maintaining It's 'No First Use' Nuclear Doctrine?


First Strike -- Washington Free Beacon

China omission of no-first-use nuclear doctrine in defense white paper signals policy shift.

China omitted a reference to its no-first-use strategic nuclear weapons doctrine in a recently published government white paper, indicating Beijing shifted the policy as part of its large-scale nuclear arms buildup.

The omission, along with recent comments by a senior Chinese military officer, is raising new concerns among Pentagon officials about China’s nearly opaque strategic arms buildup.

Chinese Maj. Gen. Yao Yunzhu, a senior researcher at China’s Academy of Military Science, revealed earlier this month that China is considering expanding its growing nuclear arsenal in response to U.S. missile defense deployments and upgrades.

Read more ....

Update: China’s New Defense Paper Causes Stir Over No-First-Use Nuke Policy -- Global Security Newswire

My Comment:
This Chinese omission of a no-first-use nuclear doctrine in their defense white paper is deliberate and it is a major policy shift. To put it bluntly .... they are stating that if threatened they will contemplate using nuclear weapons first.

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