In late June 2021, satellite images revealed that China was building 120 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos on the edge of the Gobi Desert.
- Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr.
- Foreign Affairs
This was followed by the revelation a few weeks later that another 110 missile silos were under construction in Hami, in Xinjiang Province.
Together with other planned expansions, these sites amount to a dramatic shift in the country’s approach to nuclear weapons.
For decades, China maintained a relatively small nuclear force, but according to current U.S. intelligence estimates, that arsenal is now on track to nearly quadruple, to…