Spokesperson: China Has No Intention Of Involvement In Nuclear Races

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning when delivering a statement to the media in Beijing, China, Friday (20/10/2023). (ANTARA/Desca Lidya Natalia)

JAKARTA - Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said China had no intention of getting involved in the nuclear race with anyone, including the United States (US).

"China is strongly committed to a defensive nuclear strategy and always maintains its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security. We have no intention of engaging in the nuclear arms race with any country," Mao Ning said when delivering a statement to the media in Beijing, China., Friday, October 20.

This was conveyed by Mao Ning in response to a report by the US Department of Defense to Congress stating China was trying to modernize and expand nuclear arsenal by increasing nuclear warheads from 500 units to more than 1,000 units by 2030.

The US Department of Defense also said China is expected to continue its arms expansion and modernization efforts until 2035 to meet President Xi Jinping's goal of achieving "world-class" military status by 2049.

"This US report, like previous reports, is not based on facts and bias. They call China a threat just to find the right reasons for the US to maintain its military hegemony, China is strongly against this," said Mao Ning.

China, according to Mao Ning, has a unique nuclear policy among nuclear weapons-owning countries and has maintained a high level of stability, consistency and predictability.

"For any country, as long as they don't use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against China, they don't have to worry about the threat of nuclear weapons," continued Mao Ning.

The US, according to Mao Ning, is the country with the largest and most advanced nuclear arsenal in the world.

"The country uses nuclear for the purpose of vibration, continues to invest heavily to increase its nuclear economy, adds to the point of nuclear deployment as a strategic force, and strengthens the effects of vibration for its allies. Those policies and actions increase the risk of the nuclear arms race," said Mao Ning.

The US move, according to Mao Ning, will only have a negative impact on the global strategic security environment.

"China urges the US to abandon the mentality of the Cold War and hegemony logic as well as look at China's strategic intentions and defense development objectively and rationally, and stop issuing such irresponsible annual reports in order to maintain China-US military relations and relations as a whole. stabilization, "said Mao Ning.

In an annual report to Congress regarding military and security developments in China, the US Department of Defense said that despite having 500 warheads, China remains committed to the "no first attack" policy.

The supply of nuclear weapons owned by China is also said to be still inferior to Russia and the US. Russia has 5.889 nuclear arsenals, while the US has 5.244 warheads, according to the independent institution of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

In 2021, the US Department of Defense estimates China will have around 400 warheads.

US officials say Beijing may have completed the construction of three new missile site groups by 2022. These fields include at least 300 new intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) silos.

The ICBM is a ballistic missile with a range of more than 5,500 km (3,400 miles). The US report says People's Liberation Army rocket forces are also working to develop the ICBM which will allow the People's Republic of China to threaten conventional attacks on targets in the US, Hawaii, and Alaska continents.

The analysis says that although its nuclear stockpile is increasing, China remains "committed to a 'vibrational' policy against the enemy's first attack and a 'backlash' when the vibration fails".