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China adding more nuclear warheads

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 10/21/2023 2:29:08 AM

NEW DELHI, Oct 20: China is continuing to build up its strategic nuclear arsenal and has most likely amassed 500 nuclear warheads as of May, The New York Times quoted the Pentagon in a new report, an increase of about 100 over last year’s estimate. It remains on track to have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, most of them for weapons capable of striking the continental U.S.

The most eye-catching evidence of China’s nuclear buildup in recent years has been three clusters of missile silos constructed last year in the deserts of northern China. At least some intercontinental ballistic missiles had been installed in them, the report said.

The U.S. has also recorded more “coercive and risky” air intercepts by the Chinese military in the Asia-Pacific region over the past two years than in the previous decade, including one that came as close as 10 feet to an American military plane, the Defense Department said in its annual report to Congress on China’s military might.