China’s burgeoning nuclear arsenal poses a threat to global stability, Group of Seven leaders warned Friday.
The SIPRI think tank estimates that China has a stockpile of about 350 nuclear warheads – a small amount compared to the United States and Russia.
But it’s growing fast, and the country could have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, according to a Pentagon estimate published in November.
Concerns about the buildup have increased in the West, with G7 leaders warning the enlargement “without transparency or meaningful dialogue poses a problem to global and regional stability.”
Since its first nuclear test in 1964, China has been content with maintaining a relatively modest arsenal and has insisted it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.
China’s burgeoning nuclear arsenal is a “concern for global and regional stability,” Group of Seven leaders said Friday. Pictured: China’s DF-41 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles during a military parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square (File photo, 2019)
Estimates suggest that China could have a stockpile of up to 350 nuclear weapons (others suggest 320) – much lower than the arsenals of Russia and the US, with a total of more than 8,200. But the Pentagon estimates China could have more than 1,500 by 2035
But in recent years, under President Xi Jinping, it has embarked on a massive military modernization effort, including upgrading its nuclear weapons to not only deter enemies, but also launch counter-attacks if the deterrence fails.
In April, foreign ministers from the wealthy democracies of the G7 also warned against expanding China’s nuclear capacity, urging “strategic risk reduction talks” with Washington and greater transparency from Beijing.
The leaders’ warning came after nuclear disarmament talks in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
G7 leaders, who earlier Friday laid wreaths at a memorial to the estimated 140,000 people killed in the 1945 atomic bombing of the city, also aimed at Russia.
They condemned the “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric” and called a plan to station nuclear weapons in Belarus “dangerous and unacceptable.”
They also denounced proliferation, warned North Korea against “provocative actions” and urged Iran to “stop nuclear escalations.”
The document is the first time a G7 summit has produced a leaders’ declaration aimed at nuclear disarmament, reflecting the efforts of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who hails from Hiroshima.
He has tried to push the issue higher on the agenda during the three-day talks, and previously led leaders around the Hiroshima Peace Museum, where they faced evidence of the suffering inflicted by the US nuclear attack of August 6, 1945.
The leaders reiterated their commitment to achieving a world without nuclear weapons “with undiminished security for all,” a caveat pointing to the difficulty of making progress on nuclear disarmament in the current global security environment.
“Achieving the world we hope to see will require a global effort to move us from the harsh reality to the ideal, however narrow the path may be,” the leaders said, without making concrete commitments themselves.
Three members of the G7 – the United States, Britain and France – have nuclear weapons and the rest are protected by the US ‘nuclear umbrella’.
G7 leaders and invited guests from several other provinces will discuss on Saturday how to deal with China’s growing assertiveness and military build-up as concerns mount that it could try to take Taiwan by force.
Many fear that this could lead to a wider conflict.
G7 leaders, who laid wreaths at a memorial to the estimated 140,000 people killed in the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima earlier Friday, warned of China’s nuclear weapons expansion
In a bit of dueling diplomacy, Chinese President Xi Jinping (pictured May 19) hosts the leaders of the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for a two-day summit in the Chinese city of Xi’a
China claims the self-governing island as its own and its ships and warplanes regularly patrol the area.
In a bit of diplomatic dueling, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts the leaders of the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for a two-day summit in the Chinese city of Xi’an.
Leaders will discuss efforts to strengthen the global economy and address rising prices that are straining households and government budgets around the world, particularly in developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
A US official said leaders would release a joint communiqué on Saturday highlighting a common approach to dealing with China and will outline new projects in the G7 global infrastructure development initiative, which aims to provide countries with an alternative for Chinese investment dollars.