China Foreign Ministry Terms Washington’s Updated Security Doctrine ‘Nuclear Blackmail’

Oct. 29, 2022 (EIRNS)—According to a report in RT, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin stated on Oct. 28 that the new U.S. Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) “smacks heavily of Cold War and zero-sum mentality” and

“uses nuclear weapons as tools to advance [the U.S.] geopolitical agenda.... What’s behind the U.S. policy is its hegemonic logic of seeking absolute military superiority, which could stoke a nuclear arms race.

“The U.S. claims it would use nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear or non-nuclear strategic attack and seek to develop or forward-deploy non-strategic nuclear weapons. The U.S. has placed more importance on the role of nuclear weapons in national security policy and lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons, which has gradually become a source of risks for nuclear conflict.

“The U.S. has been hyping up the so-called nuclear threat from certain countries, ‘tailoring’ nuclear deterrence strategies targeting these countries and calling for ‘nuclear sharing’ that violates the NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]. It has also tried to reinforce its extended deterrence commitments to its allies in the Asia Pacific. The U.S. moves have undermined mutual trust between major countries, stoked nuclear arms race and confrontation, stimulated nuclear proliferation, and seriously harmed regional and international peace and stability.

“I need to stress that in this latest NPR, the U.S. has made irresponsible remarks and accusations as well as groundless speculations on China’s normal modernization of its nuclear forces. The U.S. has brazenly ‘tailored’ a nuclear deterrence strategy against China. China is seriously concerned about and firmly opposed to such a move. Let me make it clear that we have the capability and confidence to safeguard our national security interests. The U.S.’s nuclear blackmail will not work on China.”