Biden approves secret U.S. nuclear strategy in March aimed at deterring China - NYT

In March 2024, US President Joe Biden approved a new secret nuclear strategy, which for the first time focuses on the rapid expansion of China's nuclear arsenal. This was reported by The New York Times, according to UNN.

Details

The publication notes that such changes are caused by the Pentagon's opinion that over the next decade, China's reserves will compete in size and diversity with the US and Russian reserves.

The White House did not disclose that Biden had approved a revised strategy called the Nuclear Weapons Posture Review, which also aims to prepare the United States for possible coordinated nuclear challenges from China, Russia and North Korea. The document, which is updated about every four years, is so classified that there are no electronic copies, only a small number of hard copies distributed to a handful of national security officials and Pentagon commanders.

But in extreme speeches, two senior U.S. administration officials were allowed to hint at this change - in very limited, single sentences - ahead of a more detailed, unclassified announcement to Congress, which is expected before Biden leaves office.

The president recently issued updated guidance on the use of nuclear weapons that takes into account the presence of multiple nuclear adversaries,

He added that the weapons manual explains the "significant increase in the size and diversity" of China's nuclear arsenal.

In June, Pranay Waddy, Senior Director for Arms Control and Nonproliferation at the National Security Council, also referred to this document, which for the first time analyzed in detail whether the United States is prepared to respond to nuclear crises that erupt simultaneously or sequentially using a combination of nuclear and non-nuclear weapons.

The new strategy, according to Mr. Waddy, emphasizes "the need to contain Russia, China and North Korea simultaneously.

The publication emphasizes that in the past, the likelihood that American adversaries would be able to coordinate nuclear threats to overwhelm the American nuclear arsenal seemed unlikely. But the evolving partnership between Russia and China and the conventional weapons that North Korea and Iran are providing to Russia for the war in Ukraine have fundamentally changed Washington's thinking.

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