NATO official demands nuclear weapons openness. As a global power, China should be more transparent about its increasing nuclear weapons buildup, a top NATO official said on Friday.
At the Shangri-La regional security conference in Singapore, NATO Assistant Secretary-General for Defence Policy and Planning Angus Lapsley said NATO would discuss the problem with China.
“As a global power, it has a global responsibility to be more transparent,” Lapsley said, adding that the scope and pace of the Chinese buildup were “really striking.”
Lapsley said NATO, with nuclear-armed members the US, France, and Britain, did not want to interfere in the region but wanted to interact, stressing that China has a right to modernize and grow its arsenals.
“NATO is open to dialogue, but it can’t substitute dialogue between the U.S. and China,” he said.
Lapsley cited Pentagon reports that China’s arsenal is increasing and sophisticated, and U.S. officials have asked for more interaction with China.
In November 2022, the Pentagon’s annual China assessment reported that Beijing now possesses more than 400 operable nuclear warheads, considerably below U.S. and Russian stocks.
The Pentagon expects China to have 1,500 nuclear warheads and sophisticated missiles by 2035, when its military will be fully modernized.
Although China was not represented in the discussion, People’s Liberation Army officers in the audience questioned recent U.S. and allied steps to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia and strengthen South Korea’s defense.
One called long-term buildup estimates “imagination.”
China has maintained a small number of nuclear warheads and missiles as a deterrent under a “no first use” vow since the early 1960s, despite President Xi Jinping’s military modernization.
The three-day forum’s opening night keynote speaker, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, said nuclear disarmament was still a priority.
“The citizens of this region have shown an unflinching commitment to preventing the spread of these destructive, inhumane and indiscriminate weapons,” he said.
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