China’s Defense Minister on the country’s nuclear arsenal

Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday that China had made “impressive progress” in developing new nuclear weapons, but would only use them. for self-defense and never use them first.

In response to a question about reports last year about the construction of more than 100 new nuclear missile silos in eastern China, he said China “always pursues the appropriate path to develop nuclear capabilities to protect our country.”

He added that the nuclear weapons on display during the 2019 military parade in Beijing – including upgraded launchers for China’s DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile – were already operational and implementation.

“China has been developing its capabilities for more than five decades. It’s fair to say impressive progress has been made,” he said. “China’s policy … is consistent. We use it to defend ourselves. We won’t be the first to use nuclear (weapons).”

He said the ultimate goal of China’s nuclear arsenal is to prevent nuclear war.

“We have developed nuclear capabilities to protect the hard work of the Chinese people and protect our people from the scourge of nuclear war,” he said.

The US State Department last year called China’s nuclear construction relevant and said it appeared Beijing was deviating from a decades-old nuclear strategy based on minimal deterrence. It called on China to engage with it “with practical measures to reduce the risk of destabilizing arms races.”