China’s semi-official English daily Global Times ran an editorial today reiterating its view that China can and must strengthen its nuclear deterrence, given that U.S. security doctrine now names China as its principal adversary.
The editorial reported comments on July 1 by State Department spokesman Ned Price that China’s nuclear arsenal “will grow more quickly, and to a higher level than perhaps previously anticipated…. This build-up is concerning,” he proclaimed. The next day the Washington Post reported that China is building more than 100 new missile silos for solid fuel missiles which, if completed, would represent a “historic shift” for China’s nuclear arsenal.