China’s nuclear arsenal and other elements of its armed forces have grown robustly despite anti-corruption investigations that have shaken the People’s Liberation Army at its highest levels, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
China’s navy “continues to develop into a global force, gradually extending its operational reach beyond East Asia,” the defence department said in an annual report assessing Beijing’s military strength. It said China also seemed to be exploring production of conventionally armed intercontinental ballistic missiles, which would give it another option – alongside its 135 or so nuclear long-range missiles – that could be used to threaten the US.
China doesn’t disclose how many nuclear weapons it has. The Pentagon report estimates that it has added about 100 nuclear warheads since last year, bringing its stockpile to more than 600 by mid-2024. That is still much smaller than the arsenals of the US and Russia, but China appears to be on track to deploy over 1,000 warheads by 2030, the report said. Russia and the US each deploy 1,550 strategic N-weapons under a treaty that could expire in 2026.
The Pentagon report may feed into calls for the incoming Trump administration to focus on China’s rising military strength, even as the US grapples with Russia’s war in Ukraine and turmoil in West Asia.
The Pentagon said China seemed to have finished constructing three missile fields with 320 launch silos in its northern deserts and had placed missiles in some of the silos. It said China’s rocket force was building dozens more silos to house Dongfeng-5 intercontinental missiles, each of which can rain multiple warheads.
The advances reported by the Pentagon came despite recent corruption scandals in the Chinese military. In June, party leaders officially accused two recent Chinese defence ministers – Gen. Li Shangfu and Gen. Wei Fenghe – of taking bribes and selling military promotions. Last year, Xi abruptly replaced two commanders of the PLA’s Rocket Force, which controls nearly all of China’s nuclear missiles.
Some of the graft may’ve involved the silos built for missiles, but any issues with compromised silos have probably been addressed, the report said. It did not say how US officials reached those conclusions.
Much of China’s military planning is focused on Taiwan. Beijing has long said that they want to peacefully absorb Taiwan into China, but it also says that it may resort to war. But the report concluded that China remains some distance from being able to confidently consider invading, citing its urban warfare shortcomings.