\n\n“A new Pentagon report predicts China will double its number of nuclear warheads over the next 10 years. That certainly sounds scary, but the assessment actually offers a broadly reassuring message: Despite these expected advances, the US will remain the far stronger nuclear force well into the future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
… \u201cThe important thing to keep in mind is that China can afford a much larger nuclear force than it has now,\u201d said Middlebury\u2019s Lewis.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“\u201cOver the next decade, China\u2019s nuclear warhead stockpile \u2014 currently estimated to be in the low 200s \u2014 is projected to at least double in size as China expands and modernizes its nuclear forces,\u201d the report<\/a> says.”
…
“\u201cThe US nuclear stockpile numbers about 3,800 [active] warheads<\/a>. That\u2019s almost 20 times as many as China has now and 10 times what China is projected to build over the next decade,\u201d”
…
“\u201cChina probably has enough nuclear materials to at least double its warhead stockpile without new fissile material production,\u201d the report<\/a> reads. In other words, Beijing couldn\u2019t more than double its arsenal unless it produced more plutonium to build bombs, an effort the world \u2014 including the US \u2014 would detect pretty easily. \u201cThat would be expensive, slow, and visible,\u201d said James Acton, the co-director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace\u2019s nuclear program.”
…
“None of this should lead to complacency in the Pentagon. As Acton told me, China still has enough warheads, and long-range missiles to place them on, \u201cto destroy the US as a functioning society.\u201d And other government reports make clear China\u2019s military prowess could match America\u2019s in just 30 years<\/a>. It\u2019s why experts think it\u2019s a good idea for the US to seriously engage in China in arms control talks<\/a>, among other things, as a way to blunt an arms race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n