China calls US report on its nuclear arsenal “manipulation”

The Chinese government described the US Pentagon report as “manipulation” that warns of a faster-than-expected expansion of the Asian giant’s nuclear arsenal.

“The report released by the US Department of Defense, like previous similar reports, ignores the facts and is full of biases.“Said the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Wenbin.

The person in charge also accused Washington of “handling” and of “Inflate the thesis of China as a nuclear threat”, and pointed out precisely to the United States “as the world’s largest source of nuclear threat”.

The report of Pentagon published on Wednesday assures that China is developing its nuclear arsenal faster than expected and that it can already launch missiles armed with nuclear warheads from land, sea and air.

The objective of China, according to this report, is to have an arsenal in 2027 to “countering the US military in the Indo-Pacific region”And force a reintegration of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as its own province.

According to the forecasts of the PentagonChina could have 700 nuclear warheads by 2027 and reach 1,000 by 2030, an arsenal two and a half times larger than the Pentagon predicted just a year ago.

Even so, the Chinese arsenal would be far from equaling that of the United States and Russia, which together possess more than 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons: 5,550 the United States and 6,255 Moscow, according to figures from the Stockholm International Research Institute. of Peace (Sipri).

In the previous edition of this report presented annually to Congress, published on September 1, 2020, the Pentagon estimated that the Asian giant had about 200 nuclear warheads, but expected it to double this number in 2030.

“More credible options”About Taiwan

To obtain these figures, the authors of the report rely on statements by Chinese officials in the official media and on satellite images that show the construction of a significant number of nuclear silos, said a senior official from the Defense Ministry.

“This is very worrying for us.”, Indicated this person in charge, ensuring that this acceleration “Raises questions about their intentions.”

In October 2020, the Chinese Communist Party he set himself the goal of modernizing his army’s theory, organization, personnel, weapons and equipment by 2027, the report said.

“If successful, these goals would give Beijing more credible military options vis-à-vis Taiwan.”Says the document.

Asked Wednesday during a conference on the risk of a short-term attack on Taiwan from China, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, estimated that it was “improbable”In the next 24 months.

But the United States has “absolutely capabilities“To defend this island less than 200 km from the Chinese coast, he said. “There is no doubt”He added.

In recent weeks the verbal tension between the two great powers has escalated over the destiny of this territory with a democratic government, but considered as its own by China, which aspires to a “reunification”, Even by force.

US President Joe Biden recently pledged to defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

The Pentagon also questioned in the report the intentions of the Chinese army in the matter of biological investigation of substances with potential medical and military uses.

“Studies conducted at military medical institutions in the People’s Republic of China addressed the identification, testing, and characterization of various families of potent toxins with dual-use applications.”, Raising concerns about compliance with the global biological and chemical weapons treaties.

The senior Pentagon official said that these activities were not linked to the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, which some theories attribute to a leak in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected in December ofL 2019.