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China’s desert nuclear missile silos not a threat to western powers

Satellite photos have revealed a dramatic nuclear plan by China. The move threatens the power balance between East and West. Beijing is building fear. Satellites have discovered a second field of atomic missile silos being dug in a Chinese desert. It’s no accident they’ve been seen. That’s the whole point. China’s People’s Liberation Army has begun boosting its small force of 20 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos to about 250. At least, that’s as many new sites the West knows of so far.

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It’s a dramatic increase in its nuclear arsenal. It’s a significant shift in posture. “It would be a nuclear force strong enough to make the US – from the military to the government – fear,” an unattributed editorial in Wednesday’s Global Times asserts. “Equilibrium will be achieved when … the US completely loses the courage to even think about using nuclear weapons against China, and when the entire US society is fully aware that China is untouchable in terms of military power.”

nuclear missile

Bates Gill, professor of security studies at Macquarie University and Senior Associate Fellow with the Royal United Services Institute in London, says “untouchable” is the keyword. “Does this mean China wants to fight a nuclear war? Not,” he says. “The last thing it wants is a nuclear exchange. In China’s mind, this is a way of stopping others from using nuclear weapons against it.” As Beijing transitions to a more robust arsenal, Professor Gill believes the risk of a nuclear incident increases. But the likelihood of such a conflict will fade as China’s nuclear deterrent grows.

All the while, though, the twisted logic of mutually assured destruction (MAD) makes the odds of a conventional arms clash all the more likely. “What this means for us is not the threat of nuclear war,” Prof Gill says. “What it means is China feels more confident in engaging in a conventional war. Because they’re not going to be deterred by the possibility of nuclear escalation, they increasingly believe they can win.”

Lines in the sand

The Federation of American Scientists has discovered a new Chinese nuclear missile silo construction site – the second in the space of a month. It’s near the remote Xinjiang Province city of Hami. It’s about 400km northwest of Yumen, in Gansu Province, where the first site was found.

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So far, 14 prefabricated domes have been built to conceal new silo sites in a flat, dry salt pan. Preparation works have begun on 19 others. A series of 11 support facilities are being scattered across an 800-square-kilometer area. Extrapolate a staggered pattern between these facilities; there’s enough room for 110 new silos. That’s just ten fewer than the total at Yumen. “It alters the current calculus, no doubt about it,” Prof Gill says. But he adds it’s not the threat it immediately appears to be.

“Just one nuclear weapon hitting the soil of the United States – or anywhere for that matter – incurs a price far too high to pay,” he says. “Nobody wins. China understands that. It’s been understood since day one.” Instead, it’s about Beijing “shifting the battlefield” to an arena where it can win. “China wants to hold the US at risk so that it won’t launch a nuclear attack. But until about one year ago, Beijing didn’t feel confident it could guarantee retaliation in response to a nuclear strike. Now that retaliatory deterrence is more fully formed, even more so if this recently discovered set of developments proceeds.”

Offensive defense

A handful of slight, “tactical” thermonuclear warheads could stop an invasion of Taiwan in its tracks. If it had no nuclear weapons, Beijing could not do anything about this. But the prospect of nuclear retaliation is a powerful deterrent. As is the threat of escalation. That’s the fear Beijing seeks to impose. “What this does is push any likely field of battle – with the US and others like India and Russia – down to the conventional realm,” says Prof Gill. An expanded force of missile silos, mobile truck-mounted ICBM launchers, missile submarines, and stealth bombers will give Beijing confidence to strike back. “It believes it can deter nuclear threats. It can deter nuclear blackmail,” he says. “Beijing is becoming confident they can manage a nuclear war in a way so that it doesn’t happen.” Where China is increasingly confident it can succeed, however, is in the arena of conventional weaponry and incredibly advanced missiles.

Gemma Broadhurst
I am a writer by profession, and I love to write in my spare time. I am one of the most experienced writer for newspriest. I always make sure that whatever is written on my blog is 100% genuine and true. I am a University of Florida graduate pursuing a Master's degree.

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