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China likely has loaded more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles into its last three silo sites and has no desire for arms control talks, according to a draft Pentagon report that highlighted Beijing's growing military ambitions.
China is expanding and modernizing its weapons stockpile faster than any other nuclear power, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago. Beijing has described reports of a military buildup as an attempt to "smear and discredit China and deliberately mislead the international community."
Last month, US President Donald Trump said he might be working on a denuclearisation plan with China and Russia. But a draft Pentagon report, seen by Reuters, said Beijing did not appear interested.
"We continue to see no appetite from Beijing to pursue such measures or more comprehensive discussions on arms control," the report said.
In particular, the report says that China likely has deployed more than 100 DF-31 solid-fueled international ballistic missiles at silo fields near China's border with Mongolia, the latest in a series of silo sites.
The Pentagon had previously reported the existence of the fields, but not the number of missiles loaded.
The Pentagon declined to comment.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington DC said that China has "maintained a nuclear defensive strategy, kept nuclear armaments at the minimum level required for national security, and respected its commitment to a moratorium on nuclear testing."
The Pentagon's draft report did not identify any potential missile targets.
US officials noted that the report could change before it is sent to lawmakers.
The report said China's nuclear warhead stockpile was still at the 600-point level as of 2024, reflecting "a slower rate of production compared to previous years."
But the report added that China's nuclear expansion was continuing and was on track to have over 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.
China has said it adheres to a "nuclear strategy of self-defense and pursues a policy of no first use."
Trump has said he wants the United States to resume nuclear weapons testing, but it is not clear what form this will take.
Former US President Joe Biden and Trump, during his first term, sought to engage China and Russia in negotiations to replace New START with a trilateral treaty for strategic nuclear arms control.
The extensive Pentagon report detailed China's military buildup and said that "China expects to be able to fight and win a war against Taiwan by the end of 2027."
China, which considers democratically governed Taiwan to be its own territory, has never ruled out using force to "reunify" the island.
Beijing was refining its military options to take Taiwan by "brute force," the report said, adding that one option could include attacks 1,500-2,000 nautical miles from China.
The report comes less than two months before the expiration of the 2010 New START treaty, the last US-Russian nuclear arms control agreement, which limits the parties to deploying 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads on 700 delivery systems.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Biden extended the pact for five years in February 2021, but its terms do not allow for a further formal extension.
Many experts fear that the pact's expiration could spark a three-way nuclear arms race.
"More nuclear weapons and a lack of diplomacy will not make anyone safer, not China, not Russia, not the United States," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the advocacy group Arms Control Association.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a broad crackdown on corruption, with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as one of the main targets.
The report said the purge could affect short-term nuclear readiness, but also pave the way for "long-term improvements to the PLA overall."
Revenue at China's giant military firms fell last year as corruption crackdowns slowed arms contracts and procurement, according to a leading group of conflict experts.
In the past 18 months, at least 26 senior managers and former managers at state-owned arms companies have been investigated or dismissed from their positions, the Pentagon report said. /Adapted from Reuters/
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