Why is China expanding its capability to launch nuclear missiles?

US scientists are warning that China is expanding its capacity to both store and launch nuclear missiles following leaked satellite images

A team of US researchers say China appears to be expanding its nuclear arsenal. The report found that China is building a second field of missile silos in the desert. This calls into question Beijing’s “minimum deterrence” strategy.

Silos are underground facilities used to store missiles. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) says the new missile base in China’s Xinjiang region could have up to 110 of them.

This comes after researches uncovered another silo field earlier this month. TheJames Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies reports that there appear to be a total of 120 silos under construction in the nearby province of Gansu.

“The most significant expansion of the Chinese nuclear arsenal ever”

This follows the Pentagon flagging back in 2020 that China was moving to double its stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Last year, the Pentagon said China planned to double its stockpile of nuclear warheads, from a low base.

The US Strategic Command says “this is the second time in two months the public has discovered what we have been saying all along about the growing threat the world faces and the veil of secrecy that surrounds it”.

Read more about China here.