China has reportedly deployed more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) for operational use at silo bases near the border with Mongolia.
Reuters reported on the 22nd (local time), citing a draft U.S. Department of Defense report, that China has loaded missiles into three newly completed silo bases. A silo is an underground vertical hangar that can secretly store and launch missiles. The missiles deployed this time were identified as the solid-fueled DF-31. This is the first time the Ministry of National Defense has gone beyond acknowledging the existence of China's missile silos to specify the actual number loaded.
According to the report, China is strengthening its nuclear forces across the board. The report projected that China, which had just over 600 nuclear warheads as of 2024, will increase that number to more than 1,000 by 2030. U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his intention to pursue a denuclearization plan with China and Russia, but China has been cool to the idea. The report analyzed that "there are no signs that the Chinese leadership will push for a comprehensive arms control dialogue."
The Taiwan invasion scenario has also become more concrete. The Ministry of National Defense assessed that China aims to acquire the capability to win a war with Taiwan by the end of 2027. In particular, it is reviewing options to strike areas up to 3,700 km from the Chinese mainland. That is large enough to pose a serious threat to U.S. forces stationed in the Asia-Pacific region.
China's leadership appears to be strengthening its military externally while simultaneously carrying out an internal anti-corruption drive. Chinese President Xi Jinping has dismissed or investigated 26 executives at defense corporations over the past 18 months. As a result, the report said, there were disruptions to short-term nuclear readiness, and sales at major defense corporations also declined. However, the Ministry of National Defense predicted that, in the long term, the measure will help modernize the People's Liberation Army and improve military equipment.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said in a Reuters interview, "A situation in which nuclear weapons increase and diplomacy disappears will not make the United States, China, or Russia safe."
The Chinese government says the reports are groundless. The Chinese Embassy in the United States did not offer an immediate reaction. The Ministry of National Defense added that some parts of the report could be revised before it is submitted to Congress.