US Secretary of Defense: China seeks to build a tripartite nuclear system.
Claiming that China is rapidly strengthening many of its capabilities, including offensive, air, missile defense and anti-submarine measures, the Pentagon said Beijing was moving toward a nuclear trio.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Sunday morning that the Indian Ocean Pacific is a region of great opportunity and real challenge.
“One of these challenges is the rise of China, which is increasingly assertive and authoritarian,” Austin said at a meeting of the Reagan National Defense Assembly. “America, however, is and will always be a Pacific power.”
“China’s leaders are expanding their capacity to deploy forces and build a global network of military bases,” he said, according to US media reports. .
“China is rapidly strengthening many of its capabilities, including offensive, air, missile defense and anti-submarine measures,” the Pentagon chief said in a statement. “The country is increasingly focused on integrating its information, cyberspace and space operations.”
According to the report, Austin – whose country is the only one using nuclear weapons against another country – also claimed that “China is working to create a nascent triple nuclear [system].”
“We are not looking for confrontation or conflict [with China],” he said. “But we will always be ready to win the conflict.”
“We are working to strengthen deterrence, but we are not looking to change the status quo,” he said, referring to Taiwan, which plans to travel to Southeast Asia in early 2022.
