China recently released its first arms control white paper since 2005, titled “China’s Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation in the New Era.” The document, available in both English and Chinese versions, provides insight into China’s nuclear arsenal and strategic thinking.
The white paper acknowledges China’s ongoing upgrades and expansion of its arsenal to strengthen its defensive posture. It emphasizes the importance of maintaining global strategic stability through multilateral arms control treaties negotiated in the United Nations.
China’s nuclear modernization efforts are vaguely mentioned in the white paper, reflecting Beijing’s traditional style of maintaining secrecy around its arsenal. The document highlights the importance of improving strategic early warning, command and control, missile penetration, rapid response, and survival abilities to ensure a strong second-strike capability.
China aims to balance its arsenal growth with responsible arms control measures, emphasizing the importance of building a shared future for mankind. The paper distances China from other nuclear powers, citing historical nuclear threats from the United States as the reason for developing its nuclear weapons.
While China prefers multilateral arms control treaties and advocates for nuclear risk reduction measures, it emphasizes the need for voluntary transparency based on national security conditions. Crisis prevention is prioritized over crisis management, with China opposing actions that escalate tensions while calling for nuclear risk reduction.
Overall, the white paper reaffirms China’s defense-oriented nuclear posture and calls for comprehensive disarmament among all nuclear weapons states once the largest arsenals, namely Russia and the United States, take steps towards reducing their nuclear stockpiles.
