Pentagon Estimates China To Produce Over 1,000 Nuclear Warheads By 2030

Beijing could have 700 warheads by 2027 and possibly 1,000 by 2030, according to the Pentagon estimate

The picture shows the Pentagon building in Washington, DC. The Pentagon, which is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense (DOD), is the world's largest office building by floor area. (AFP)

New Delhi: With an aim to increase its nuclear weapons arsenal, China is estimated to produce over 1,000 warheads by 2030, according to the new report by Pentagon. The Pentagon on Wednesday increased its estimate of China's projected nuclear weapons arsenal, saying Beijing could have 700 warheads by 2027 and possibly 1,000 by 2030, according to the news agency Reuters.

What did Pentagon report reveal?

Even as the numbers would be significantly smaller than the current US nuclear stockpile, it still represents a significant change in the US projection from just last year, when the Pentagon warned the Chinese arsenal would top 400 by the end of the decade.

The US has repeatedly asked China to join it and Russia in a new arms control treaty. In its estensive annual report to Congress on China’s military, the Pentagon stressed on concerns regarding pressure on self-ruled Taiwan, an island China sees as a breakaway province, and China's chemical and biological programs and technological advancements.

However, the latest report focuses on China's growing nuclear arsenal. "Over the next decade, the PRC aims to modernize, diversify, and expand its nuclear forces," the report said, referring to the People's Republic of China.

It added that China had started building at least three intercontinental ballistic missile silo fields. "Whether China follows through with these estimates from the United States will depend in great part on the policies and actions of the United States," Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said.

"The potential for China to increase its arsenal to these levels underscores the urgent necessity of pragmatic bilateral or multilateral talks to reduce nuclear risks," Kimball added. China says its arsenal is dwarfed by those of the United States and Russia, and that it is ready for dialogue, but only if Washington reduces its nuclear stockpile to China's level.

The United States has a stockpile of 3,750 nuclear warheads, of which 1,389 were deployed as of Sept. 1.