China continues its nuclear expansion, strengthens ties with Russia and has increased military pressure against Taiwan over the past year, according to a new Defense Department report that examines actions accelerating key areas of conflict with the UNITED STATES.
The report, released Wednesday, also notes that the recent wave of corruption allegations within China’s powerful Central Military Commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army, is hurting Beijing’s military growth and could slow its modernization drive .
A senior defense official said China had made progress in some of its programs but had gone backwards in others.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the U.S. assessment, warned that Beijing was working to develop a more diverse and technologically sophisticated nuclear force. While the expected number of nuclear warheads has maintained steady growth, China is expanding its targeting capabilities.
Beijing will be able to attack more and different types of targets, cause greater damage and have more options for multiple rounds of counterattacks, the official said. The United States is urging China to be more transparent about its nuclear program, while warning that America will defend its allies and take appropriate action in response.
According to the report, which provides the annual US assessment of China’s military power and is required by Congress, China had more than 600 operational nuclear warheads as of mid-2024, and the Pentagon expects that it will have more than 1,000 by 2030. Pentagon estimate China’s current stockpile of nuclear warheads is about 100 units higher than revealed in the report last year, but that reflects the change in the estimate, not the pace of production. production.
The Biden administration has worked to maintain a balance with China, strengthening the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region to be ready to counter Beijing, while also encouraging increased communication between the two countries at the diplomatic and military.
This resumption of negotiations coincided with a reduction in coercive and risky interceptions of American aircraft since the end of 2023, compared to the previous two years. However, China continues to conduct flights that the U.S. military considers “dangerous” near U.S. and allied forces in the region.
The Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy is based on the assessment that China represents the greatest security challenge to the United States, and the threat from Beijing influences how the U.S. military is equipped and organized for the future .
Corruption within the PLA has led to the ouster of at least 15 senior officials, part of a major shake-up of China’s defense establishment.
“This wave of corruption affects all services of the PLA and it may have shaken Beijing’s confidence,” the report said.
In June, China announced that former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor, Wei Fenghe, had been expelled from the ruling Communist Party and accused of corruption. Last month, another senior official, Miao Hua, was suspended and is under investigation, according to China’s Defense Ministry.
The US report highlights an increased and persistent Chinese military presence around Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own. He said there was a greater presence of the Chinese navy in the region and there had been an increase in passages through the island’s air defense identification zone and major military exercises in the region.
Last week, a large deployment of Chinese navy and coast guard vessels in waters around Taiwan raised alarm, with Taiwanese officials saying it appeared China was faking a blockade. Authorities said up to 90 vessels were involved in what Taiwan described as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China.
Taiwan The country broke away from communist China in 1949 and rejected Beijing’s demands to accept unification. China says it will do so by force if necessary, and leaders have said they want to be ready to do so by 2027.
The United States is required under domestic law to help defend Taiwan and provide it with weapons and technology to deter invasion.
Insular democracy has been the main source of tension between Washington and Beijing for decades and is widely seen as the most likely trigger for a potentially catastrophic war between the United States and China.
More generally, the report concluded that the PLA continued its efforts to develop greater military capabilities, but “had made uneven progress toward its 2027 modernization goal.”
One area of expansion, according to the report, is unmanned aerial systems, which officials say are “rapidly approaching U.S. standards.”
Regarding Russia, the report states that China supported Russia’s war against Ukraine and sold dual-use items to Russia on which Moscow’s military industry depends. Dual-use items can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
