President Biden has signed off on a highly classified plan that shifts America’s nuclear strategy to focus on China as a nuclear threat — and prepare for the possibility that the communist nation could team up with North Korea and Russia against the US, according to a new report.
Biden made the shift in March because the Pentagon believes China’s nuclear arsenal will rival the US and Russia, the New York Times reported Tuesday, citing sources.
The new strategy is called the “Nuclear Employment Guidance” and also readies the US for a possible coordinated threat between China, Russia and North Korea, the newspaper reported.
In a pair of recent speeches, two senior administration officials have hinted at the growing Chinese nuclear threat.
“The President recently issued updated nuclear weapons employment guidance to account for multiple nuclear-armed adversaries, and, in particular, the significant increase in the size and diversity of [China’s] nuclear arsenal,” said Vipin Narang this month when he was still the acting assistant secretary of defense of space policy.
“My office has begun to provide the Department and the Joint Force updated implementation guidance on how to plan and posture our forces in this new environment.”
He also added during the speech the US hopes China engages “responsibly” on nuclear issues including transparency and risk reduction, which Washington officials have repeatedly raised with the rival nation.
National Security Council’s senior director for arms control and nonproliferation, Pranay Vaddi, also referred to the top-secret document in June, the Times reported.
The new game plan would focus on “the need to deter Russia, the [China] and North Korea simultaneously,” he said, per the newspaper.