Within a decade, it is expected that China will have as many nuclear warheads deployed as the United States. Pentagon estimates suggest that Beijing will have 1,500 operable nuclear weapons by 2035.

Does the rise of China as a nuclear strategic superpower present a fundamental threat to deterrence, arms control, and arms race stability? Experts contend that China has set in motion an ambitious nuclear modernization program that could result in a world with three significant nuclear peer great powers by the mid-2030s.

We’re facing multiple nuclear competitors, multiple states that are growing, diversifying and modernising their nuclear arsenals’

China aims to use its nuclear breakout to pierce the rimland barrier without igniting a great-power war. Xi’s ability to dominate the conflict spectrum—from low-intensity political pressure to potential nuclear warfare—has likely emboldened him to sharpen the pressure in this region in recent months.

This follows a US policy change allowing Kyiv to use US-supplied long-range missiles on Russia. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The department's report states that US needs integration of non-nuclear capabilities, where feasible, to support nuclear deterrence mission.

At what is almost certainly President Joe Biden’s last official meeting with the Chinese leader, the pair urged caution over future US-China relations.

The US Department of Defense is reviewing approaches to nuclear deterrence against the backdrop of China and Russia's growing nuclear capabilities, as well as the possible absence of international arms control agreements after February,