Three lessons for limiting China's nuclear arms
Star TribuneJun 11, 2023
According to a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute on Monday, the world's nine nuclear-armed states continued modernizing their existing arsenals and deploying the latest nuclear-capable weapon systems throughout 2022.
The bulk of the increase was reportedly in China, where the stockpile of nuclear warheads grew from 350 to 410 between January 2022 and 2023. The report predicts that the world's third-biggest nuclear power could match the US and Russia's number of intercontinental ballistic missiles by 2030.
China's growing nuclear arsenal is a scary development and a massive threat to global security. Additionally, Russia's vast atomic stockpile and invasion of Ukraine show the fragility of the global situation. The world cannot withstand further nuclear proliferation, and the US must remain alert to deter continued weapons expansion.
China must continue its nuclear arms development, as the report clearly shows the country only possesses a fraction of the US and Russia's nuclear capabilities. China has the right to develop a robust stockpile to keep its people and territory safe, and as it has strictly followed a "no first use" nuclear policy, the biggest destroyer of world peace must stop making groundless speculations.
There's a 10% chance that any country that had nuclear weapons on July 1, 2017 will give them up before 2035, according to the Metaculus prediction community.