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38 articles matching the search query.
It’s complicated: China and North Korea’s difficult relationship
Kim Jong-un regards Xi Jinping as Asia’s other supreme leader. But North Korea’s nuclear weapons pose as much of a threat to China as they do to countries like the U.S. and South Korea.
Japan’s Prime Minister travels the world cementing alliances with G7 countries, discomfiting China
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida seems to have the full support of America, Britain, and Italy to develop advanced defense systems.
U.S. and China to Elevate Military Talks in Bid to Ease Tensions
U.S.-China arms talks could be held at a high level, Bloomberg reports, as during the virtual meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平, Xi “agreed to support such discussions between the U.S. military and top officials from the People’s Liberation Army, including the vice chairman of the country’s powerful Central Military Commission.” This would be an upgrade from a “Track II dialogue, among nongovernment defense analysts and academics,” which is what one Chinese source suggested to the Wall Street Journal, and potentially even a step up from semiofficial talks between 2004 and 2009.
Biden-Xi meeting aftermath: A prisoner swap, and a search for ‘strategic stability’
Three major outcomes of the Biden-Xi meeting are becoming clearer: A journalist visa thaw, nuclear-arms talks of some type, and an apparent prisoner swap involving China lifting an exit ban on one American, while seven Chinese citizens were deported from the U.S.
China’s nuclear build-up: ‘one of the largest shifts in geostrategic power ever’
Why is China beefing up its nuclear weapons? Top U.S. general Mark Milley told the Financial Times that China’s expansion of nuclear weapons is “one of the largest shifts in geostrategic power that the world has ever experienced.” Several experts quoted by the FT put forward the same explanation for Beijing’s buildup as nuclear policy expert Tong Zhao in the New York Times: “Beijing’s nuclear buildup is ultimately an attempt to force Washington to drop the perceived strategic assault and accept a ‘mutual vulnerability’ relationship — in which neither country would have the capability or will to threaten nuclear war without risking its own destruction.”
China Expands Nuclear Weapons Arsenal to Better Compete Globally, Pentagon Says
Is China changing its nuclear weapons posture? The latest Pentagon report on Chinese military power, released yesterday, said that China is on track to have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030 — double the rate of expansion previously estimated, the Wall Street Journal notes. That number would still be a fraction of the U.S. and Russia, the Economist writes, as each nation maintains about 4,000 warheads, but the magazine says Beijing’s buildup indicates a shift in strategy: “All told, China is shifting to a ‘launch on warning’ doctrine. Rather than rely on a minimal nuclear deterrent to retaliate after an initial nuclear attack, China would henceforth fire at the first sign of an incoming nuclear strike, even before the enemy warheads have landed.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry dismissed the Pentagon’s report as “full of prejudice with a disregard of the facts.”
India’s Missile Test Seen as Warning to China After Breakdown in Border Talks
India’s newest weapons test, of a nuclear-capable Agni-5 missile with a range of over 3,000 miles, was “seen by security experts as a warning shot to China after military talks between the two countries over a contentious border dispute broke down earlier this month,” the Wall Street Journal reports. The two countries are “digging in as winter approaches,” with thousands of troops newly deployed to the still-heavily-militarized border.
China conducted two hypersonic weapons tests this summer
The FT doubles down on its hypersonic weapons report: After the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied an earlier Financial Times report about a hypersonic weapons test in August, the FT now claims that the Chinese military “conducted two hypersonic weapons tests over the summer,” one in July and another in August.
China denies report of hypersonic missile test
The Chinese Foreign Ministry denied a Financial Times report that China had tested a nuclear-capable, hypersonic missile in August. Hypersonic weapons technology, which is under development in the U.S., Russia, and China, could have major implications for strategic positions.
Opinion | Biden, You Should Be Aware That Your Submarine Deal Has Costs
As experts hail the AUKUS agreement, the Biden administration should ensure it does not reflect a self-defeating concept of great power competition.
Opinion | Australia Is Making a Risky Bet on the U.S.
Australia has thrust itself into a central role in America’s rivalry with China.
North Korea Reports Long-Range Cruise Missile Test as Arms Race Intensifies
The test was not a violation of U.N. sanctions but signaled the development of increasingly powerful weapons on the Korean Peninsula.
A 2nd New Nuclear Missile Base for China, and Many Questions About Strategy
Is China scrapping its “minimum deterrent” strategy and joining an arms race? Or is it looking to create a negotiating card, in case it is drawn into arms control negotiations?
China beefs up military position with more Indian border units, desert missile silos, navy forces
As the Chinese Communist Party celebrated its centennial, promising a stronger China, including its military, several outside reports showed beefed-up Chinese troop positions and capabilities.
Exclusive: Revealing Kangson, North Korea’s First Covert Uranium Enrichment Site
For more than a decade, North Korea has operated a uranium enrichment site just outside Pyongyang.
How We Tracked Secret Oil Deliveries to North Korea
For a Visual Investigations project that looked at violations of United Nations sanctions, more than a dozen journalists examined a maze of connections. But we started with one ship.
North Korean Threat Forces Biden Into Balancing Act With China
Washington’s recent attempts to communicate with Pyongyang were rebuffed, leaving American officials to appeal to countries in the region to help pressure North Korea.
Biden’s Plan to Link Arms With Europe Against Russia and China Isn’t So Simple
The new president’s vow to restore the trans-Atlantic alliance is welcome, but Europeans want a more balanced relationship, with more dialogue and less diktat.
Pompeo pressed on claims China is helping build Saudi uranium facility
Democrats write to secretary of state over claims Beijing is helping to develop yellowcake factory
U.S. Examines Whether Saudi Nuclear Program Could Lead to Bomb Effort
Intelligence agencies are scrutinizing whether the kingdom’s work with China to develop nuclear expertise is cover to process uranium and move toward development of a weapon.
Opinion | China’s Arms Buildup Threatens the Nuclear Balance
A Pentagon leader argues that as Beijing’s weapons grow in size and sophistication, the U.S. and Russia will have to reassess their own arsenals.
Defying U.S., China and Iran Near Trade and Military Partnership (Published 2020)
The investment and security pact would vastly extend China’s influence in the Middle East, throwing Iran an economic lifeline and creating new flash points with the United States.
A New Superpower Competition Between Beijing and Washington: China’s Nuclear Buildup (Published 2020)
The Trump administration is portraying the small but increasingly potent Chinese arsenal — still only one-fifth the size of the United States’ or Russia’s — as the big new threat.
Iran Nuclear Row Escalates as China Warns of Dire Consequences
Diplomacy over Iran’s atomic program erupted into a new level of rancor, with China warning that even a toned-down rebuke of Tehran over its alleged lack of cooperation with inspectors could unravel global efforts to contain the spread of nuclear weapons.
US security officials 'considered return to nuclear testing' after 28-year hiatus
Discussion held this month as way to press Russia and China into agreeing arms control deal, officials say
