Biden approves new secret US nuclear strategy aimed at deterring China - NYT
In March, US President Joe Biden approved a classified US nuclear strategic plan that reorients the US deterrence strategy to the rapid expansion of China's nuclear arsenal.
According to Censor.NET, The New York Times reports.
The reason for this change is the Pentagon's forecast that over the next decade, China's reserves will compete in size and diversity with the US and Russian reserves.
Nevertheless, the White House has not officially announced that Biden has approved the revised strategy, called the "Nuclear Weapons Posture Review", which also aims to prepare the United States for possible coordinated nuclear challenges from China, Russia and North Korea. The document, which is updated about every four years, is so classified that there are no electronic copies, only a small number of hard copies distributed to a handful of national security officials and Pentagon commanders.
But in recent speeches, two senior US administration officials have been allowed to hint at this change - in very limited, single sentences - ahead of a more detailed, unclassified announcement to Congress, which is expected before Biden leaves office.
"The president recently issued an updated guidance on the use of nuclear weapons that takes into account the presence of multiple nuclear adversaries," said a nuclear strategist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who worked at the Pentagon.
He argues that "arms guidance explains" the significant increase in the size and diversity of China's nuclear arsenal.
In June, Pranay Waddy, Senior Director for Arms Control and Nonproliferation at the National Security Council, also referred to this document, which for the first time analysed in detail whether the United States is prepared to respond to nuclear crises that erupt simultaneously or sequentially using a combination of nuclear and non-nuclear weapons.
The new strategy, according to Mr Waddy, emphasises "the need to contain Russia, China and North Korea simultaneously".
