China ‘making more than 100 nuclear missile silos’ in rapid nuclear force build-up – World News

China is building more than alarming more than 100 new missile silos in a desert area, according to satellite images.

The United States wants to open talks with Beijing and warned the rapid nuclear build-up is “destablising the arms race”.

Satellite imagery has found 119 construction sites featuring underground bunkers and a military base near Yumen, according to researchers from the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies in California.

China was previously thought to have a stockpile of around 350 nuclear weapons – fewer than Russia and the US.

The sites have become tougher to hide for China who appeared to be deviating from decades of nuclear strategy based around minimal deterrence, said US State Department spokesman Ned Price.

The nearly identical construction sites contained features that mirrored existing launch facilities for China’s existing arsenal of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, reports the Washington Post.

Mr Price was responding in a news conference to a report in the Washington Post that China was constructing more than 100 new missile silos in a desert area in the western part of the country.

“These reports and other developments suggest that the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) nuclear arsenal will grow more quickly, and to a higher level than perhaps previously anticipated,” Price said.

“This buildup is concerning. It raises questions about the PRC’s intent. And for us, it reinforces the importance of pursuing practical measures to reduce nuclear risks.

“We encourage Beijing to engage with us on practical measures to reduce the risks of destabilising arms races – potentially destabilising tensions.”

Price also said that Washington had “taken note” of remarks by Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on Thursday.

In his address, Xi warned that foreign forces attempting to bully China would “get their heads bashed” and pledged to build up its military.

He also committed to the “reunification” of Taiwan and said social stability would be ensured in Hong Kong while protecting China’s security and sovereignty.

In a 2020 report to Congress, the Pentagon estimated China’s nuclear warhead stockpile in “the low 200s” and said it was projected to at least double in size as Beijing expands and modernises its forces.

Analysts say the United States has around 3,800 warheads, and according to a State Department factsheet, 1,357 of those were deployed as of March 1.

Washington has repeatedly called on China to join it and Russia in a new arms control treaty and the US disarmament ambassador said in May that Beijing was resisting this despite a “dramatic” buildup in its arsenal.

Beijing says its arsenal is dwarfed by those of the United States and Russia and it is ready to conduct bilateral dialogues on strategic security “on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”

Non-proliferation experts said this year China’s push to develop fuel for a new generation of nuclear power reactors will produce large amounts of materials that could be diverted to making nuclear weapons.