China Is Getting Ready for a Nuclear War

Trucks carry intercontinental ballistic missiles. Photo: 81.cn

David Axe, National Interest: How China Is Getting Ready for a Nuclear War

The Chinese military successfully tested a mock launch of a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile, state media reported on Jan. 21, 2019.

"Without a first strike against China, China will never use the weapons," Global Times stressed. "An ICBM loaded with nuclear warheads will likely never be used as it would precipitate an all-out nuclear war, say analysts. The weapon's primary purpose is deterrence, and to facilitate political and diplomatic discussions."

The Chinese military successfully tested a mock launch of a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile, state media reported on Jan. 21, 2019.

At the same time, experts stressed that China would never be the first country to launch a nuclear attack.

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WNU Editor: China has been getting ready for nuclear war for a long time .... This Is Where China's Top Leaders Will Hide To Survive A Nuclear War (January 7, 2018).

Is China Continuing It's 'No-First-Use' Policy Towards Nuclear Weapons

China’s No-First-Use Policy Promotes Nuclear Disarmament -- Hui Zhang, The Diplomat

On April 16, the Chinese Ministry of Defense released the eighth edition of China’s bi-annual white paper on defense since 1998. However, unlike the previous editions, this one does not reiterate China’s long-standing doctrine of no-first-use nuclear weapons. The obvious omission has sparked a debate over whether China is changing its nuclear doctrine. If China abandons its no-first-use nuclear pledge, which has guided China’s nuclear strategy since its first nuclear test in 1964, it would severely undermine the global disarmament process, potentially preventing the U.S. and Russian from further reducing their nuclear arsenals and even encouraging the U.S. to expand its nuclear forces. Is China really changing its nuclear policy?

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My Comment: What would help the situation will be China opening up and becoming more transparent in it's nuclear weapons program and intentions. But China has always pursued a very secretive and independent approach towards their nuclear program .... telling everyone who wants to inquire to mind their own business. Trust and verify is not in their vocabulary.

The Next Nuclear Meltdown Will Be In China

The Next Nuclear Meltdown: China -- Brett M. Decker, Washington, Washington Times

Japan quake warns of future calamity in communist neighbor.

The worsening Japanese predicament is a reminder of how much damage Mother Nature can cause. With a little help from her friends - for example, poor urban planners - Japan is facing a full-blown nuclear crisis not imagined since U.S. forces dropped two big ones on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 66 years ago. Radical greens are taking advantage of the tragedy to make doomsday warnings for the rest of the world. It’s doubtful that Japan’s unique geographical vulnerabilities are a hazard universally, but there is one place where nuclear power generators are susceptible to big trouble: China.

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My Comment: China has embarked on an aggressive program to develop nuclear energy. They have a strong appetite for electricity, and instead of building coal fire electrical plants, they have chosen the nuclear road instead. There are some risks, but when looking at the alternative the Chinese have made the decision to take a chance.

China's Nuclear Bomb History -- A Review

(Click To Enlarge)

Locations of early nuclear facilities in China. Atom symbols mark research and production facilities.
The test site is marked with a mushroom cloud.

The Chinese Nuclear Tests, 1964–1996 -- Physics Today

A combination of intellectual rigor, technical sophistication, hard work, and intelligence gathering brought China into the world's nuclear club in record-shattering time.

The visitors from China seemed innocuous enough. The five of them had flown in from Beijing to attend the 1989 American Physical Society Conference on Shock Waves in Condensed Matter in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Danny Stillman, director of the technical intelligence division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, met the visitors' plane, took care of their transportation and food needs, and escorted them through the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque. All five visitors seemed to be jolly academic tourists, but appearances can be—and in this case were—deceptive. In the next year or two, all five were revealed to be top scientists in the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics, the equivalent of the combined US nuclear weapons laboratories at Los Alamos, Livermore, and Sandia. Those visitors from China were scouting the American turf.

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Update: China gave Pakistan the blueprint for an atomic bomb, testing the finished product in 1990 -- USA Today

My Comment: The reason why China helped their ally Pakistan during this time was to target their mutual enemy .... India.

As for the article from Physics Today, it is a good summary of China's nuclear bomb program. What strikes me is that they were able to complete their H-bomb tests during the Cultural Revolution, a time in which all scientists were targeted for punishment.