The Chinese Military Wants To Increase Its Nuclear Deterrent Capabilities

Members of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) take part in the national flag-raising ceremony to mark the New Year, the first since it took over the duty from paramilitary police, on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China January 1, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

Reuters: Chinese military paper urges increase in nuclear deterrence capabilities

BEIJING (Reuters) - China must strengthen its nuclear deterrence and counter-strike capabilities to keep pace with the developing nuclear strategies of the United States and Russia, the official paper of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration may be pursuing the development of new nuclear weaponry and could explicitly leave open the possibility of nuclear retaliation for major non-nuclear attacks, according to a draft of a pending Nuclear Posture Review leaked by the Huffington Post.

This “unprecedented” move by the United States, combined with continuous quality improvements of nuclear arsenals in both the U.S. and Russia, means that both countries place greater importance on deterrence and real combat usability, the commentary in the PLA Daily said.

“In the roiling unpredictability of today’s world, to upgrade the capability of our country’s deterrence strategy, to support our great power position... we must strengthen the reliability and trustworthiness of our nuclear deterrence and nuclear counterstrike capabilities,” it said.

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WNU Editor: There is currently a conventional arms race in Asia .... An Asian Arms Race Is Underway (January 30, 2018). But talk from China about expanding its nuclear capabilities will probably spark in a nuclear arms race with India .... while making other countries in the region wonder if they should also have nuclear weapons.