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US ‘very concerned’ despite China denials over hypersonic missile
Disarmament ambassador casts doubt on ability to defend against technology after reports of test
Vincent Ni, Julian Borger in Washington
18 Oct 2021
The United States is “very concerned” about China’s development of hypersonic technology, the US disarmament ambassador, Robert Wood, has said, after reports that Beijing had recently launched a hypersonic missile with a nuclear capacity.
“We are very concerned by what China has been doing on the hypersonic front,” Robert Wood told reporters in Geneva.
The Financial Times reported on Saturday that Beijing had launched a nuclear-capable missile in August that circled the Earth at low orbit before narrowly missing its target. Citing multiple sources, the FT claimed the hypersonic missile was carried by a Long March rocket and that the test had been kept under wraps.
“We just don’t know how we can defend against that type of technology. Neither does China or Russia,” Wood told reporters.
But Beijing said the report was inaccurate, and the exercise was a test of reusable technology that could reduce the cost of launching spacecraft.
“According to my understanding, this test is a routine spacecraft test, used to test a reusable spacecraft technology,” the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in a regular press briefing. “This could provide a convenient and cheap way for humans to use space for peaceful purposes.”
Zhao’s comments came days after China launched a second three-person crew to staff its space station on a six-month mission. The FT report came at a sensitive time, as China’s relationship with the US continues to deteriorate, with some commentators saying recent developments were reminiscent of those during the cold war between the Soviet Union and the west in the 20th century.
The reported launch of a hypersonic missile puzzled some observers in Washington. One US official told the FT: “We have no idea how they did this.” The FT report said Beijing’s progress in the field had “caught US intelligence by surprise”.
“The timing isn’t surprising at all,” said Tong Zhao, a senior fellow of the nuclear policy programme based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing. “China is known to have been conducting research on new delivery technologies for some time. But even if this reported launch was a weapons test, it may be far from becoming an operational capability.
“If the FT report was true, it means that China is willing to go the extra mile with a exotic approach to penetrate the US’s missile defence,” he said, adding that the US had “long possessed a very similar and more sophisticated technology, such as the X-37B spacecraft”.
Drew Thompson, a former director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the US, said that the Department of Defense and the intelligence community have been monitoring and tracking China’s various missile programmes “for years”.
“Without transparency in China’s space programme, it is difficult to make credible denials,” he said. “I think Biden’s calculation [regarding China] changed a while ago. This just reinforces the conclusions.”
Along with China, the US, Russia and at least five other countries are working on hypersonic technology.
Hypersonic missiles can fly at more than five times the speed of sound and like ballistic missiles can deliver a nuclear warhead. But intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) fly high into space in an arc to reach their target while a hypersonic missile flies on a trajectory low in the atmosphere, potentially reaching a target more quickly.
Crucially, a hypersonic missile is manoeuvrable – making it harder to track and defend against.
Countries including the US have developed systems to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles, but their ability to track and take down a hypersonic missile remains in question.
However, US nuclear experts pointed out that ballistic missile defence (BMD) systems are intended as a shield against “rogue states” with small arsenals, and could not serve as a protection against a hail of missiles from Russia or China. Nuclear deterrence is the US strategy against such major nuclear powers.
“This is not a game-changer; US BMD is not designed to counter China’s existing missiles,” Laura Grego, a fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s laboratory for nuclear security and policy, said on Twitter. “But it could be a hedge against the US eventually making missile defences work against Chinese ICBMs. Given the unlimited nature of US BMD programs and the capability the US has to conduct a disarming strike, US BMD continues to be a concern to China.”
Vipin Narang, a professor of nuclear security and political science at MIT, said: “One reason why the US pursues counterforce and missile defence capabilities is precisely to force adversaries to invest a lot of time and resources to develop crazy experimental systems.”
“This is a feature, not a bug, of US strategy,” Narang added.
China has been aggressively developing the technology, according to a recent report by the US Congressional Research Service.
Biden’s disarmament envoy admits US has no defence against hypersonic weapons amid reports of China missile
US doesn't know 'how we can defend' against those technologies, admits disarmament envoy
John Bowden
19 Oct 2021
The US envoy for disarmament told reporters in Geneva on Monday that America does not yet have the capability to defend against hypersonic weapons following a news report claiming that China had tested such a weapon.
Robert Wood spoke to journalists on Monday following a report from the Financial Times on Monday, citing five unnamed sources, claiming that China’s government had successfully tested a nuclear-capable missile with the ability to travel faster than the speed of sound.
That report was denied by Beijing on Monday, which claimed that the reported launch was actually a spacecraft.
"We have concerns about what China is doing on hypersonic," Mr Wood told reporters.
"We just don't know how we can defend against that type of technology,” he continued, before clarifying: “[N]either does China or Russia.”
The Financial Times reported over the weekend that the supposed test of a hypersonic missile had occurred in August, and resulted in mixed success; the missile supposedly launched successfully, but missed its target by a far distance of nearly 25 miles.
Beijing officials explained on Monday that it had carried out a test of a space vehicle in July, declaring: "It was not a missile, it was a space vehicle”, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“As we understand, this was a routine test of space vehicle to verify technology of spacecraft's reusability. It is of great significance to reducing the cost of using space vehicle and providing a convenient and cheap way for mankind's two-way transportation in the peaceful use of space. Several companies around the world have conducted similar tests,” added a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry during a press conference.
“After separating from the space vehicle before its return, the supporting devices will burn up when it's falling in the atmosphere and the debris will fall into the high seas. China will work with other countries in the world for the peaceful use of space for the benefit of mankind,” Beijing’s spokesperson continued.
Mr Wood added in his own comments on Monday that both Russia and China were “very actively” pursuing the militarisation of hypersonic weapons, and explained that their eventual use could have significant consequences for US defences going forward.
"Hypersonic technology is something that we have been concerned about, the potential military applications of it and we have held back from pursuing military applications for this technology," he said, according to the Post.
"But we have seen China and Russia pursuing very actively the use, the militarisation of this technology so we are just having to respond in kind,” he continued, adding: “We just don't know how we can defend against that technology, neither does China, neither does Russia."
The Biden administration has largely continued a policy of challenging China’s military that has been followed by US administrations for years, including indicating tacit support for the independent government of Taiwan and sailing US naval vessels through the contested Taiwan Strait.
Those missions frequently evoke angry responses from Beijing and the Chinese foreign ministry, while top Taiwanese officials are publicly showing increasing concern about Beijing’s military posture towards the contested island, which is self-governing but claimed by China as its territory.
Beijing blasts nuclear-capable hypersonic missile right around globe: Terrifying new 21,000mph weapon circles in low orbit before striking anywhere on Earth from space in minutes - and would render US anti-missile defences useless
- Report from Financial Times said test showed China had made 'astounding progress' on hypersonic weapons
- Hypersonic missile launched in August, circled the globe at low orbit and missed target by two dozen miles
- US intelligence was caught off guard as US is one of eight nations developing their own hypersonic missiles
By Katie Feehan and Stewart Carr and Rachael Bunyan
17 October 2021
China secretly tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile which orbited the globe before returning to Earth to strike its target in a technological development that would overcome US anti-ballistic missile systems.
A report from the Financial Times, which cited five unnamed intelligence sources, said the Chinese military launched the Long March rocket in August carrying a 'hypersonic glide vehicle' into low orbit.
It circled the globe before descending towards its target, which it missed by about two dozen miles.
The hypersonic missiles can reach speeds of up to 21,000mph and can strike anywhere on Earth from space within minutes.
The system would be able to overcome US anti-ballistic missile defence systems that are based in Alaska and set up to shoot down projectiles coming over the North Pole - the Chinese system would be able to strike the US from the south.
The incident has left US intelligence officials stunned, sources say, as it shows 'China has made astonishing progress on the development of its hypersonic weapons'.
'We have no idea how they did this,' a person familiar with the test told the FT.
https://i.imgur.com/q9YToiM.jpg
A report from the Financial Times, which cited five unnamed intelligence sources, said the Chinese military launched the Long March rocket in August carrying a 'hypersonic glide vehicle' into low orbit. It circled the globe before descending towards its target, which it missed by about two dozen miles. The system would be able to overcome US anti-ballistic missile defence systems that are based in Alaska and set up to shoot down projectiles coming over the North Pole - the Chinese system would be able to strike the US from the south
https://i.imgur.com/ODUmyRx.jpg
Shenzhou-13 spacecraft is launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on October 16
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Preparations underway: Pictures from earlier this month show the Long March-2F carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft, sitting at the launching area at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the country's northwestern Gansu province
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Pictured: China launches the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft on October 16, carried on the Long March-2F carrier rocket, to Chinese Tiangong space station
This is the latest development in a terrifying arms race taking place in Asia as tensions between China and Taiwan continue to grow. China's ministry of defence did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment on Sunday.
Along with China, the United States, Russia and at least five other countries are working on hypersonic technology, and last month North Korea said it had test-fired a newly-developed hypersonic missile.
At a 2019 parade, China showcased advancing weaponry including its hypersonic missile, known as the DF-17.
Ballistic missiles fly into outer space before returning on steep trajectories at higher speeds. Hypersonic weapons are difficult to defend against because they fly towards targets at lower altitudes but can achieve more than five times the speed of sound - or about 6,200 km per hour (3,850 mph).
The Pentagon did not comment on China's testing of the hypersonic missile, but did acknowledge China as their 'number one pacing challenge'.
'We have made clear our concerns about the military capabilities China continues to pursue, capabilities that only increase tensions in the region and beyond,' John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson, told Fox News. 'That is one reason why we hold China as our number one pacing challenge.'
An op-ed in Beijing's state media outlet Global Times said that if the FT report is to be believed, it would be a 'new blow to the US' mentality of strategic superiority over China'.
The editorial said: 'If the FT report is to be believed, it means that there is a key new member in China's nuclear deterrence system, which is a new blow to the US' mentality of strategic superiority over China.
'It is important to note the unstoppable trend that China is narrowing the gap with the US in some key military technologies as China is continuously developing its economic and technological strength.'
'China doesn't need to engage in an 'arms race' with the US – it is capable of weakening the US' overall advantages over China by developing military power at its own pace,' the editorial added.
It comes as the Chinese military today condemned the United States and Canada for each sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait last week, saying they were threatening peace and stability in the region.
China claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, and has mounted repeated air force missions into Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over the past year, provoking anger in Taipei.
China sent around 150 aircraft into the zone over a four-day period beginning on Oct. 1 in a further heightening of tension between Beijing and Taipei that has sparked concern internationally.
The US military said the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey sailed through the narrow waterway that separates Taiwan from its giant neighbour China along with the Canadian frigate HMCS Winnipeg on Thursday and Friday.
'Dewey's and Winnipeg's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific,' it added.
China's People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command said its forces monitored the ships and 'stood guard' throughout their passage.
'The United States and Canada colluded to provoke and stir up trouble... seriously jeopardising peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,' it said.
'Taiwan is part of Chinese territory. Theatre forces always maintain a high level of alert and resolutely counter all threats and provocations.'
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The US said the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey sailed through the narrow waterway that separates Taiwan from its giant neighbour China on Thursday and Friday, an act China condemned (Pictured: USS Dewey file photo)
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Pictured: The Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Winnipeg which sailed through the Taiwan strait this week with USS Dewey
U.S. Navy ships have been transiting the strait roughly monthly, to the anger of Beijing, which has accused Washington of stoking regional tensions. U.S. allies occasionally also send ships through the strait, including Britain last month.
China strongly condemned Britain for sailing the warship through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, saying it was behaviour that 'harboured evil intentions' and that the Chinese military followed the vessel and warned it away.
Earlier this month, Britain's HMS Queen Elizabeth led a huge naval exercise in the Philippine Sea alongside US and Japanese aircraft carriers.
While tensions across the Taiwan Strait have risen, there has been no shooting and Chinese aircraft have not entered Taiwanese air space, concentrating their activity in the southwestern part of the ADIZ.
Taiwan's defence ministry said on Sunday that three Chinese aircraft - two J-16 fighters and an anti-submarine aircraft - flew into the ADIZ again
China has dramatically stepped up its military operations around the island - flying 150 aircraft close-by in a huge show of force coinciding with the island's National Day holiday.
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Taiwan has warned that China will be ready for a full-scale invasion of the island by 2025, ramping up tensions further after the UK's Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier led a huge naval exercise alongside the US and Japan in the region at the weekend
At the same time, Beijing's mouthpiece media has been warning that it is 'only a matter of time' before the island falls into their hands and that World War Three could be triggered 'at any time'.
Yesterday. Chinese defense ministry spokesman Tan Kefei described Beijing's military as an 'high alert' and 'ready to fight any time', according to Communist Party controlled newspaper The Global Times.
The spokesman insisted that Taiwan belongs to China and accused the US of 'confusing white with black' - pledging that 'external interference' would be beaten back.
Another article warned that Taiwan was facing a 'doomsday', according to the Sun, and said the 'hope of a peaceful resolution to the Taiwan question is declining sharply'.
Earlier this week, satellite images emerged showing how China has upgraded military air bases close to Taiwan, in the latest hint at potential invasion plans.
Three bases in Fujian province along China's south-eastern coast have been upgraded or reinforced with improved defences that could boost Chinese efforts in the event of aerial conflict with Taiwan.
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The Longtian airbase (pictured) has been expanded and adapted for air defence sites. At least five storage bunkers are being constructed and new administrative buildings have popped up
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At the Huian base bombproof aircraft shelters and hangers of a different design, including three most likely used for munitions storage, are visible in the satellite image
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At the Zhangzhou base, home of the Eastern Theatre Command's air force, a newly-constructed air defence site is visible as well as several new buildings
The images come after the People's Liberation Army air force launched 149 sorties into Taiwanese air defence identification zone (ADIZ) from October 1 to 4 - a record number - amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan.
Taken above the Longtian, Huian and Zhangzhou bases, the pictures reveal the construction of storage bunkers and new administrative buildings.
The pictures, taken by Planet Labs and first published by U.S. automotive and military website The Drive, show that construction work at the bases, where most of the infrastructure dates back to the 1980s, began in early 2020 and continued throughout the pandemic.
The Longtian airbase has been expanded and adapted for air defence sites. At least five storage bunkers are being constructed and new administrative buildings have popped up.
The image of the base, taken on October 2, also shows an expanded apron and four hardened aircraft shelters under construction. The shelters are directly connected to the runway for quick dispersal, according to a label on the image.
At the nearby Huian base bombproof aircraft shelters and hangers of a different design, including three most likely used for munitions storage according to Planet Labs, are visible in the satellite image.
https://i.imgur.com/kxCWBFY.jpg
While at the Zhangzhou base, home of the Eastern Theatre Command's air force, a newly-constructed air defence site is visible as well as several new buildings.
Antony Wong Tong, a Macau-based military expert, told the South China Morning Post that the upgrades offer clues about how the bases might be used in a potential future conflict with Taiwan.
'Longtian looks like it will be used as an alternate aerodrome after massive refurbishment, while the four new hardened aircraft shelters and the existing functional 24 aircraft sunshade shelters in Huian airbase tell us it will be able to house a full-scale aviation brigade,' he said.
Reports of the improvements follow previously reported upgrades at other Chinese military bases and come amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan.
China claims the self-governing island off its east coast as its territory, and says Taiwan must eventually come under its control and reserves the right to use force if necessary, according to AP.
Last week, Taiwan's president said the territory will not bow to pressure from Beijing and will defend its democratic way of life.
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Taiwan's national day celebrations at the weekend were a rare show of Taiwanese defence capabilities in the annual parade and underlined Tsai's promise to resist China's military threats
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Taiwanese honor guards take part in a parade marking National Day in Taipei on Sunday amid heightened tensions with China
'The more we achieve, the greater the pressure we face from China,' President Tsai Ing-wen said in a speech marking Taiwan's National Day on Sunday in the capital of Taipei, adding: 'Nobody can force Taiwan to take the path China has laid out for us.'
The National Day celebrations were a rare show of Taiwanese defence capabilities in the annual parade and underlined Tsai's promise to resist China's military threats.
The president added: 'We hope for an easing of... relations [with Beijing] and will not act rashly, but there should be absolutely no illusions that the Taiwanese people will bow to pressure.
'We will continue to bolster our national defence and demonstrate our determination to defend ourselves in order to ensure that nobody can force Taiwan to take the path China has laid out for us.'
Chinese President Xi Jinping broke off official communication with Taipei following Tsai's election five years ago, and has since ramped up economic, diplomatic and military pressure.
The latest flare-up was marked by the surge in flights by Chinese fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers into Taiwan's ADIZ earlier this month.
'We are watching you closely': US Defence Secretary warns China after its launch of hypersonic orbiting missile but Beijing claims it was just a routine test for the 'PEACEFUL use of space'
By Chris Pleasance and James Tapsfield
18 October 2021
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned China that 'we are watching you closely' after Beijing launched a hypersonic nuclear-capable missile.
The missile is designed to travel in low orbit to dodge missile detection and defence systems, allowing China to strike virtually anywhere on the planet with little or no warning.
While China was known to be working on the technology, the test took analysts by surprise and indicated Beijing's missile programme is more advanced than previously thought. 'We have no idea how they did this,' one said.
Austin told reporters during a visit to the former Soviet republic of Georgia: 'We watch closely China's development of armament and advanced capabilities and systems that will only increase tensions in the region.'
It comes amid warnings from experts that America will lose a new Cold War arms race to China within the next decade unless it takes a tougher stance against Beijing.
Mike Gallagher, a member of the armed services committee, blasted the Biden administration for 'complacency' and said America needs to 'aggressively' re-think its relations with China after security sources reported that Beijing launched a rocket that carried a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile into space in August.
However, Beijing played down the launch's threat today, claiming it was a 'routine test' of a new civilian spacecraft.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the launch was of 'great significance for reducing the use-cost of spacecraft and could provide a convenient and affordable way to make a round trip for mankind's peaceful use of space.
'China will work together with other countries in the world for the peaceful use of space and the benefit of mankind.'
China's space program is run by its military and is closely tied to its agenda of building hypersonic missiles and other technologies that could alter the balance of power with the United States.
Issuing a stark warning after news of the test became public at the weekend, Mr Gallagher said: 'If we stick to our current complacent course... we will lose the New Cold War with Communist China within the decade.
'The People's Liberation Army now has an increasingly credible capability to undermine our missile defenses and threaten the American homeland with both conventional and nuclear strikes.'
Meanwhile, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, speaking after the launch of the new missile was revealed, said the alliance will reposition itself to tackle the growing threat from China separate from its historic focus on Russia.
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A report from the Financial Times, which cited five unnamed intelligence sources, said the Chinese military launched the Long March rocket in August carrying a 'hypersonic glide vehicle' into low orbit. It circled the globe before descending towards its target, which it missed by about two dozen miles. The system would be able to overcome US anti-ballistic missile defence systems that are based in Alaska and set up to shoot down projectiles coming over the North Pole - the Chinese system would be able to strike the US from the south
https://i.imgur.com/qvvqfWO.jpg
Weapons race: A comparison of the most advanced (columns from left) missiles, aircraft carriers, tanks and aircraft possessed by China, the US and Russia
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China launched the dummy weapon into space on board a Long March 2C rocket (pictured) during a test in mid-August which it did not disclose at the time and was only revealed at the weekend by security analysts assigned to work out its purpose
'Nato is an alliance of North America and Europe. But this region faces global challenges: terrorism, cyber but also the rise of China, he told the Financial Times.
'So when it comes to strengthening our collective defence, that's also about how to address the rise of China. What we can predict is that the rise of China will impact our security. It already has.
'China is coming closer to us . . . We see them in the Arctic. We see them in cyber space. We see them investing heavily in critical infrastructure in our countries. And of course they have more and more high-range weapons that can reach all Nato allied countries.'
Meanwhile British MP Bob Seely, a member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said the launch is 'another wake up call' for the West.
'Britain and other European states need to contribute more to global security,' he told MailOnline. 'Because as we saw in World War Two if you lose that security and you don't have a strong enough deterrent, winning comes at an horrendous cost.
'We need to be weaning ourselves off China's economic power and influence. We are ridiculously over-dependent.[We] are still taking a relatively benign approach to this country... I think we have to get real to what is happening.'
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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters during a visit to the former Soviet republic of Georgia: 'We watch closely China's development of armament and advanced capabilities and systems that will only increase tensions in the region.'
China carried out a test of the new hypersonic weapon back in August, which defence analysts said was launched into space on a Long March rocket.
Beijing has been regularly announcing launches of the rocket, including the 77th launch in July this year and the 79th launch in late August. But it never announced a 78th launch. It is now thought that rocket was carrying a dummy nuclear warhead.
Analysts believe that the rocket was carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle - of the kind that China has showed off before in military parades - which was released into low-Earth orbit, circling the globe at speeds up to Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.
It was then brought out of orbit and came crashing back to Earth, missing its target by some 24 miles. While this shows the weapon is not ready for deployment, it never-the-less stunned analysts who believed China was still far off being able to mount an active test.
Beijing did not report the test or its results at the time, but after it was disclosed the country's state media mocked America by saying it is a 'new blow to the US's mentality of strategic superiority over China'.
An op-ed in the Chinese state media outlet Global Times, Beijing's mouthpiece, said the test means 'there is a key new member in China's nuclear deterrence system', adding that this is a 'new blow to the US's mentality of strategic superiority over China'.
It is just the latest move in a global arms race between Russia, China and the US which is taking place against the backdrop of mounting tensions between the superpowers in the eastern Pacific.
All three countries are engaged in wholesale updates of their militaries including the development of new nuclear technology with which they can strike each-other at range.
Russia and China have, in recent years, unveiled new and more-powerful ICBMs which are capable of launching multiple nuclear warheads at targets many thousands of miles away.
But China's new hypersonic missile takes the technology one step further. ICBMs work by firing the nuclear warheads into space on an arched trajectory, before they fall back to earth at speeds up to 18,000mph - detonating just above their intended targets and wiping them out.
Because they fly on an arched trajectory, the missiles and the warheads they carry fly far above the atmosphere before coming back down. Current missile defence technology is designed to detect those launches, track the warheads as they reach the peak of that arch, then shoot them as they fall - before they hit their targets.
The hypersonic warhead is different. It flies low in the atmosphere, making it harder to track, and can be repositioned in flight, making it difficult to calculate where it will land and therefore difficult to intercept.
And because it uses the Earth's orbit to propel itself, it has potentially limitless range. This means it can be fired in any direction - blindsiding radar systems that are currently pointed in only one direction, over the North Pole, which is where any nuclear attack on the US using ICBMs would come from.
The United States, Russia and at least five other countries are working on hypersonic technology, and last month North Korea said it had test-fired a newly-developed hypersonic missile.
Russia has previously tested a hypersonic cruise missile known as Zircon, but it flies below the atmosphere and uses fuel to power itself to hypersonic speeds rather than the Earth's orbit.
The Pentagon did not comment on China's testing of the hypersonic missile, but did acknowledge China as their 'number one pacing challenge'.
'We have made clear our concerns about the military capabilities China continues to pursue, capabilities that only increase tensions in the region and beyond,' John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson, told Fox News. 'That is one reason why we hold China as our number one pacing challenge.'
An op-ed in Beijing's state media outlet Global Times said: 'If the FT report is to be believed, it means that there is a key new member in China's nuclear deterrence system, which is a new blow to the US' mentality of strategic superiority over China.
'It is important to note the unstoppable trend that China is narrowing the gap with the US in some key military technologies as China is continuously developing its economic and technological strength.'
'China doesn't need to engage in an 'arms race' with the US – it is capable of weakening the US' overall advantages over China by developing military power at its own pace,' the editorial added.
https://i.imgur.com/IjpJVRb.jpg
China unveiled a hypersonic glide vehicle during a military parade in 2019, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Beijing has now used a hypersonic vehicle to test a low-orbiting weapon capable of defeating nuclear defences
https://i.imgur.com/5mv9ASH.jpg
It is just the latest episode of nuclear sabre-rattling to come out of Beijing, after a senior Chinese diplomat suggested that Beijing should abandon its long-standing policy of not using nuclear weapons first in conflict.
Sha Zukang, the country's former ambassador to the UN, told a summit of Chinese nuclear policy experts that it is time to 're- examine and fine-tune' a long-standing commitment to only use nukes in retaliation as the US 'builds new military alliances and as it increases its military presence in our neighbourhood.'
Beijing's current policy - which has been in place since the 1960s - has given China the 'moral high ground' but 'is not suitable . . . unless China-US negotiations agree that neither side would use [nuclear weapons] first,' he said at a meeting in Beijing last week
Zukang's comments - which come as China builds hundreds of new nuclear missile silos - are significant because Beijing often floats changes of policy through senior diplomats. The body he was speaking to - the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association - is officially independent, but has strong ties to the Communist party.
China became a nuclear power in 1964 with its first successful test of a bomb, and adopted its 'no-first-use' policy four years later. It states that Beijing will never be the first to use nukes in a conflict, but will use them if struck first.
It mirrors a policy that Russia implemented between 1982 and 1993, though abandoned due to fears that the weakened state of its army following the break-up of the Soviet Union could encourage an attack by the US.
The US has a policy to never use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against a majority of other nations including all those without nuclear weapons - but has exempted China, Russia and North Korea from the policy.
Global nuclear policy is rapidly changing as a number of Cold War-era treaties - notably New START and the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty - expire, with Washington hoping to renegotiate them to include China.
Zukang, in his speech, said it is 'only a matter of time' before such a deal is negotiated, but that Beijing should be prepared to take a more-aggressive stance until the trio put pen to paper.
China is in the midst of a major upgrade of its nuclear forces, which in recent years has seen it unveil more-advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and hypersonic nuclear missiles that are thought to be un-stoppable by current missile defence systems.
Beijing is thought to possess around 320 nuclear warheads that can be fitted to those missiles at present, but is also thought to be in the midst of a major expansion of that arsenal.
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14 silos are currently under construction at the site (in yellow) while land has been cleared for 19 more (in green). But analysts who looked at the site believe it could eventually expand to house 110 silos, each of which can hold a nuclear missile
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A second site, under construction near Yumen, has space cleared for up to 120 silos - meaning China's arsenal of nukes could expand from roughly 320 at present to almost 900
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Both sites were identified by distinctive tents erected over the top of the under-construction silos that hide their inner workings from spy satellites
It comes after the discovery in July of two huge new missile silo bases under construction in remote desert regions of China.
Experts believe the first, near the city of Yumen, will eventually house 120 silos while the second, near the town of Hami, will house 110. A dozen more are under construction near Jilantai, with older sites also being upgraded.
Each silo can house a nuclear missile, with each missile capable of carrying up to 12 nuclear warheads if China upgrades all of them to carry its latest DF-41 rocket.
That means China's nuclear arsenal could theoretically expand to 875 warheads. Hu Xijin, editor of the state-mouthpiece Global Times newspaper, has previously argued that it should expand to 1,000.
The move would elevate China above the low-ranking nuclear powers such as the UK, Pakistan, France and India which have stockpiled warheads in the low hundreds.
But it would still be well short of the US and Russia, the world's two largest nuclear powers, which possess arsenals of around 4,000 warheads each.
The construction of hundreds of silos also marks a major shift in the make-up of China's nuclear threat, which currently relies heavily on mobile road-based launchpads and nuclear-capable bombers. China also has four nuclear-armed submarines.
China is expanding its military as its economy balloons to rival that of the US, having lagged behind for decades.
In addition to building new nuclear missiles and silos, it has constructed new aircraft carriers, tanks, fighter jets, spy and attack drones, along with new rifles for its troops.
Beijing has used the new hardware to take a more aggressive stance in the Pacific: Imposing its rule on Hong Kong, menacing Taiwan, and laying claim to a number of uninhabited islands in the South China Sea which it has constructed military bases on top of.
It has also been pressing its claim to a number of other islands whose ownership is disputed, creating tensions with other regional powers such the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and others. Similar disputes are underway in the East China Sea, around islands claimed by Japan.
China claims rights over the South China Sea in its entirety, which would hand Beijing control over hugely valuable international shipping lanes, fishing grounds which neighbouring countries rely on for food, and deposits of coal and oil which dot the seabed.
The US and its allies have been pushing back on these claims, and frequently conduct what they call 'freedom of navigation' operations through waters that China claims as its own in defiance of Beijing.
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