Arms Strategist Slams Chinese Editor for Promoting Use of Nuclear Warheads Against US

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, in this undated photo. (The Epoch Times)

Amid heightened tension between Beijing and Washington, Hu Xijin, the chief editor of the Chinese regime‘s mouthpiece, Global Times, once again touted that China should increase its armory of nuclear warheads to deter the United States’ ambitions. This time, however, Hu’s remarks met resistance from the regime’s arms strategy expert.

Hu Xijin Repeats his Call to Increase Nuclear Warheads

On July 26, Hu repeated his stance on nuclear warheads on Weibo. He wrote: “Don’t be naive. Don’t expect Washington will improve its attitude towards the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] after the election. The CCP must be prepared.”

“Hurry up and build more nuclear warheads in sufficient numbers to deter the United States, and we must seize the day … a stronger nuclear arsenal is the only key countermeasure to balance the U.S. arrogant attitude.” Hu claimed nothing else would be useful.

He complained that the regime’s nuclear policy “has been very subtle to date.”

Expert Criticizes the Hype on the Nuclear Issue

On July 31, Yang Chengjun, a retired PLA (People’s Liberation Army) arms strategy expert wrote an article titled, “Beware of Malicious Hype on the National Nuclear Issues,” but didn’t specifically mention Hu.

Yang wrote that as an expert in the nuclear arms field for 47 years, he believed that seeing recent talk in the media of adding more nuclear warheads “is extremely harmful to national security.”

“This kind of hype will only provide hostile countries a reason to attack us. It will heighten the anxiety of neighboring countries and push them toward the United States for nuclear protection. It will also arouse unwarranted domestic dissatisfaction with the country and the military for its inaction,” he wrote.

Yang pointed out that there are four purposes and motivations for those who repeatedly hype the nuclear-related topics: first, to instigate dissatisfaction with the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Military Commission and the military and accuse them of inaction; secondly, to attract attention online; thirdly, to demonstrate only he cares about nuclear safety; and finally, to force the experts to clarify the issues so that they can pry into national nuclear secrets.

United States Demands Explanation From China

Hu had earlier posted a similar discussion on the expansion of nuclear weapons on social media. On May 8, he posted on Weibo, “China should expand its stock of nuclear warheads to 1,000” to counter the challenges posed by the United States, and “to suppress the U.S. strategic ambition and impulse against China.”

The Epoch Times previously reported that the DF-41, unveiled in mid-2019 by the rocket force of China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is estimated to have a 12,000- to 15,000-kilometer range, the longest nuclear operating range in the world, which makes it capable of striking the continental United States.

At the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on June 30, U.S. disarmament ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood criticized China’s nuclear arms control policy and military build-up and argued that the regime poses a major threat to world peace and security.

At the conference, Wood also quoted Hu’s reiteration that China should expand its number of nuclear warheads to 1,000 and demanded that the regime give an explanation.