U.S. Concern about China’s Nuclear Reinforcement

2021/11/19 | Note, political, top news

Strategic Council Online- Note: Development of 110 nuclear power plants by 2030 is one of the macro-investment projects of China, which has caused another field of contradiction of interests between China and the U.S. Reza Majidzadeh, Director of Simorgh Development Group, Passargad Millennium Plan think-tank

China inaugurated her first nuclear power plant in 1991, and now the country is the third in the world in nuclear program followed by the U.S. and France. More than 4% of Chinese electricity is generated by her nuclear power plants. It has the capacity to produce nearly 80 gigawatt of electricity. China developed her nuclear program with central technology from France, Canada and Russia. She started to export her nuclear technology based on the development of Hualong One reactor, the intellectual property of which belongs to China herself.

Although, the record of China’s nuclear activity dates back to1960s, as if she was the fifth country who enjoyed having nuclear arms at global level, and the last country which admitted Non-Proliferation Treaty. In the same year, China tested successfully her first nuclear bomb, the uranium of which was enriched in Lanzhou installations. In 1967 China also managed to test her first fusion reactor.

China intends to increase her nuclear generation capacity to 554 gigawatts by2050, in this way, she can also fulfil her pledge to limit the world temperature increase to under 1.5 degree Celsius. As the result of the increase in capacity, share of nuclear energy out of total combined energy in China will be increased to 28%.

But China’s nuclear program will not confine to the promotion of the capacity of her power plants alone. Based on satellite images, the country enjoys having two fields of nuclear missile silos; Hami and Yumen missile silo fields. 120 silos are under construction in Yumen, and another 110 silos in Hami, as well as more silos in other regions. 250 missile silos are also being developed that build the most important concern for the U.S. about China’s nuclear program.

In fact, China has more silos than Russia. The power of her silos equals to more than half of the total U.S. silos’ power. This number of silos along with several years of Chinese insistence on having the minimum deterrent power indicates that tensions with China can go beyond the economic tensions or even every-now-and-then political signals and trade wars.

However, de-escalation of tensions between China and Taiwan from one hand, and nuclear crisis of Japan in 2011 from the other hand caused China and Taiwan to take actions for cooperation in nuclear safety and to establish an official channel for contacts between the two sides. But Pentagon has announced that China is developing her nuclear arsenal much quicker than expectations, and the gap between the country and the U.S. is narrowing. According to estimations, China will be capable to deliver 700 nuclear warheads by 2027, which will be further increased to 1000 by 2030, i.e. about two and half times more than previous estimation of the Pentagon.

The NATO demand on China for transparency in her nuclear program can be interpreted in line with this. Although NATO Secretary General has expressly announced that NATO does not consider China as an enemy but the NATO members expect the country to abide by her international commitments and to participate in talks with NATO on arms’ control.

Moreover, within the past several years, the U.S. has made efforts to exert indirect and overall pressure on China to direct her towards a New Start. However, China did not react promptly but considered the expectation to join the talks to reduce the nuclear arms with the presence of the U.S. and Russia as “unrealistic”.

Of course, according to experts, turning the confrontation to a nuclear attack or nuclear instigation is unlikely and China is looking for a threat and reliable deterrent. What increase the possibility of more political confrontations in future are concerns about the repetition of events like Covid-19 pandemic at global level.

The aforementioned issues as well as paying attention to other confrontation fields between the U.S. and China such as international trade and finance, competition in political and economic cartel building and development in spatial field confirm that confrontation will remain, at least at present level. The present U.S. Administration does not prefer to extend confrontation, instead it insists on indirect approches and trade war.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LATEST CONTENT

Zionist Regime’s Post-War Map for Gaza

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Middle East issues said: After nearly 150 days have passed since the attacks of Israeli planes on Gaza and the unprecedented genocide in this city, regional and international efforts to end the Gaza crisis have intensified.

Reasons for Inaction & Inefficiency of Intl Organizations in Providing Aid to Gaza

Strategic Council Online: An expert on regional issues said: With the start of the Gaza war, many major powers and international organizations not only did not take honest action to support the defenseless Palestinian people, but instead, with their support for the actions of the Zionist regime, they caused their crimes to increase over the past five months.

France and the Two-State Solution in Occupied Territories

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.

The Prospect of US Military Withdrawal from Iraq

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Although most currents, politicians and even ordinary people in Iraq call for withdrawal of American military forces from their country, there are sometimes differences of opinion regarding the time of this withdrawal. On the one hand, Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, the Prime Minister of Iraq, is very serious in demanding the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Still, he wants to achieve this goal through “negotiation and political deal”. On the other hand, the Iraqi Resistance groups want the Americans to leave this country as soon as possible. The American side is also talking about a military withdrawal from Iraq in the next three years.

Russia’s Multifaceted Relations with Neighbors

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international affairs expert said: After Russia attacked Ukraine two years ago, the country’s relations with some of its European neighbors were severely disturbed in such a way that a clear future cannot be imagined for it.

Solution to Get Out of FATF Blacklist and Get Rid of Its Heavy Costs?

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Financial Action Task Force, FATF, announced on Friday, February 23, that the name of the Islamic Republic of Iran remains on the “blacklist” of this international organization. A decision that was not unexpected for the authorities of our country. According to the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, one day before the release of the FATF statement, due to the current sanctions, Iran is looking for its own FATF, as it uses other tools instead of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). On this basis, it seems that while the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon were removed from the “Grey List” of FATF in the previous reviews in June 2024, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not trying to be exempted from the blacklist. But what kind of organization is FATF, and why are some in Iran against joining it? And what is the way out of this situation?

Loading

Últimas publicaciones

Zionist Regime’s Post-War Map for Gaza

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on Middle East issues said: After nearly 150 days have passed since the attacks of Israeli planes on Gaza and the unprecedented genocide in this city, regional and international efforts to end the Gaza crisis have intensified.

Reasons for Inaction & Inefficiency of Intl Organizations in Providing Aid to Gaza

Strategic Council Online: An expert on regional issues said: With the start of the Gaza war, many major powers and international organizations not only did not take honest action to support the defenseless Palestinian people, but instead, with their support for the actions of the Zionist regime, they caused their crimes to increase over the past five months.

France and the Two-State Solution in Occupied Territories

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An expert on regional issues said: The announcement of France’s agreement with the formation of two states in the Occupied Territories is a measure to raise the international image of France and reduce domestic pressure on the Macron government for inaction against the Israeli crimes in Gaza.

The Prospect of US Military Withdrawal from Iraq

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Although most currents, politicians and even ordinary people in Iraq call for withdrawal of American military forces from their country, there are sometimes differences of opinion regarding the time of this withdrawal. On the one hand, Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, the Prime Minister of Iraq, is very serious in demanding the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. Still, he wants to achieve this goal through “negotiation and political deal”. On the other hand, the Iraqi Resistance groups want the Americans to leave this country as soon as possible. The American side is also talking about a military withdrawal from Iraq in the next three years.

Russia’s Multifaceted Relations with Neighbors

Strategic Council Online – Interview: An international affairs expert said: After Russia attacked Ukraine two years ago, the country’s relations with some of its European neighbors were severely disturbed in such a way that a clear future cannot be imagined for it.

Solution to Get Out of FATF Blacklist and Get Rid of Its Heavy Costs?

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: The Financial Action Task Force, FATF, announced on Friday, February 23, that the name of the Islamic Republic of Iran remains on the “blacklist” of this international organization. A decision that was not unexpected for the authorities of our country. According to the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, one day before the release of the FATF statement, due to the current sanctions, Iran is looking for its own FATF, as it uses other tools instead of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications). On this basis, it seems that while the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon were removed from the “Grey List” of FATF in the previous reviews in June 2024, the Islamic Republic of Iran is not trying to be exempted from the blacklist. But what kind of organization is FATF, and why are some in Iran against joining it? And what is the way out of this situation?

Loading