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The US has taken steps to reorient its nuclear strategy toward China as an emerging and expanding threat, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
In a plan apparently approved by the Biden administration in March, US forces are told to prepare for the potential for a coordinated nuclear challenge from China, Russia, and North Korea, the Times reported.
Two senior administration officials have referred to the change in focus in recent speeches, and more details are expected in a note to Congress before President Joe Biden leaves office.
Weighing on the Pentagon is “the significant increase in the size and diversity” of China’s nuclear arsenal, according to nuclear strategist Vipin Narang, who served in the Department of Defense until this month, the Times noted. But the change also reflects the closer relationships between China, Russia, and North Korea in recent months, with Beijing and Moscow in particular collaborating with increased openness on military drills and training.
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“The new document is a stark reminder that whoever is sworn in next Jan. 20 will confront a changed and far more volatile nuclear landscape than the one that existed just three years ago,” The New York Times wrote. Russia has seemed increasingly likely to use nuclear weapons as part of its war in Ukraine, and has threatened multiple times to do so, while China has expanded its arsenal of nuclear weaponry faster than defense officials in the US had predicted, the outlet noted, even as tensions between Washington and Beijing have risen to new highs.