China rejects US claims on nuclear arsenal as ‘untrue,’ vows to continue modernization

A senior Chinese official has firmly rejected claims made by the United States that Beijing is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal but said China will continue to "modernize" its nuclear forces.

Fu Cong, director general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's arms control department, on Tuesday dismissed as "untrue" a US Defense Department report that said China is expanding its nuclear arsenal with as many as 700 warheads by 2027 and with possibly 1,000 by 2030.

"On assertions made by US that China is vastly increasing its nuclear capabilities, this is untrue," Fu said at a news briefing in the capital, Beijing. "China has always adopted the no first use policy and we maintain our nuclear capabilities at the minimal level required for our national security. China will continue to modernize its nuclear arsenal for reliability and safety issues."

The senior Chinese official also defended his country's nuclear weapons policy and said the United States and Russia — by far the world's largest nuclear powers — should make the first move on disarmament.

"The US and Russia still possess 90 percent of the nuclear warheads on Earth," Fu said. "They must reduce their nuclear arsenal in an irreversible and legally binding manner."

Fu highlighted Beijing's keenness to join talks on nuclear arms reduction and nuclear disarmament but reiterated that the step would be taken when both Washington and Moscow reduced their arsenals.

"We will be happy to join if they have reduced to our level," he said, adding that, "The two superpowers need to... drastically reduce their nuclear capabilities to a level comparable to the level of China, and for that matter to the level of France and the UK, so that other nuclear states can join in this process."

The briefing was held a day after the world's five nuclear states — the United States, Russia, China, the UK, and France — agreed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and to avoid a nuclear conflict.

Nuclear-power states reach agreement to prevent spread of nuclear weapons

The world’s five nuclear states agree to prevent the spread of atomic weapons in a rare joint statement aimed at highlighting the push for a nuke-free world.

In a rare joint statement aimed at alleviating global concern and highlighting the push for a nuke-free world, the five atomic powers set aside differences and said they saw "the avoidance of war between nuclear-weapon states and the reduction of strategic risks as our foremost responsibilities."

The leaders of the five nuclear weapon states also affirmed their previous commitment to obligations stipulated in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a document meant to prohibit the proliferation of nuclear weapons that is joined by a total of 191 countries.

Tensions between Russia and the United States have escalated over the situation around Ukraine and an alleged troop build-up by Moscow close to its western borders. China has also been at odds with the United States in recent years over a range of issues, including trade, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, military activities in the South China Sea, and the origins of the coronavirus.

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