China continues to enhance its nuclear capabilities and has strengthened its relations with Russia, a Defense Ministry report said

China is continuing its nuclear expansion, strengthening its ties with Russia, and increasing military pressure against Taiwan over the past year, according to a new Defense Department report examining actions that accelerate key areas of conflict with the United States.

The report, released on Wednesday, noted that a recent wave of corruption allegations within China’s powerful Central Military Commission, which oversees the People’s Liberation Army, is hurting Beijing’s military growth and could slow its modernization drive.

A senior defense official said that China has made progress in some of its programs, but has retreated in others.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the US assessment, warned that Beijing is developing a more diverse and technologically advanced nuclear force. While the projected number of nuclear warheads has maintained steady growth, China is expanding its targeting capabilities.

The official said Beijing will be able to target more and different types of targets, cause greater damage, and will have more options for multiple rounds of counterstrikes. The United States urges China to be more transparent about its nuclear program, while also warning that America will defend its allies and take appropriate steps in response.

According to the report, which provides the annual US assessment of China’s military power and is required by Congress, by mid-2024, China had more than 600 operational nuclear warheads, and the Pentagon expects it to have more than 1,000 by 2030. China’s current stockpile of warheads Nuclear warfare is about 100 higher than revealed in last year’s report, but this is a reflection of the change in estimate, not the pace of production.

The Biden administration worked to maintain a balance with China, and strengthened the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region to be ready to confront Beijing while encouraging increased communications between the two countries at the diplomatic and military levels.

This rise in talks coincided with a decline in coercive and risky interceptions of US aircraft since late 2023, compared to the previous two years. However, China continues to conduct what the US military considers “unsafe” flights near US and allied forces in the region.

The Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy is built on the assessment that China poses the greatest security challenge to the United States, and that the threat posed by Beijing affects how the U.S. military prepares and organizes for the future.

Corruption within the People’s Liberation Army has led to the dismissal of at least 15 senior officials as part of a radical shake-up of China’s defense establishment.

“This wave of corruption affects every service in the People’s Liberation Army, and may have shaken Beijing’s confidence,” the report said.

In June, China announced the expulsion of former Defense Minister Li Changfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe from the ruling Communist Party and accused them of corruption. Last month, another senior official, Miao Hua, was suspended and placed under investigation, according to the Chinese Ministry of Defense.

The American report points to China’s continued increasing military presence around Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own. She added that the Chinese Navy has a greater presence in the region and that there are increasing crossings into the island’s air defense identification zone and major military training in the region.

Just last week, the deployment of large numbers of Chinese naval and coast guard vessels in the waters around Taiwan has sparked concern, with Taiwanese officials saying it appears as if China is simulating a blockade. Officials said as many as 90 ships participated in what Taiwan called two walls designed to prove that the waters belonged to China.

Taiwan It broke away from Communist China in 1949 and rejected Beijing’s demands to accept unification. China says it will do so by force if necessary, and leaders have said they want to be ready to do so by 2027.

The United States is obligated under domestic law to help defend Taiwan and provide it with weapons and technology to deter invasion.

The island’s democracy has been a major source of tension between Washington and Beijing for decades, and is widely seen as the most likely cause of a potentially catastrophic war between the United States and China.

More broadly, the report concluded that the PLA continued to seek to develop greater military capabilities but “made uneven progress towards 2027” on modernization.

One area of ​​expansion is unmanned aerial systems, which officials said are “rapidly approaching U.S. standards,” the report said.

Regarding Russia, the report stated that China supported this Russia’s war against Ukraine It sold Russia dual-use materials on which Moscow’s military industry depends. Dual-use items can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

Eleanor Watson

She contributed to this report.