DNA Explainer: Why China is rapidly building new nuclear missile silos - Nuclear silos are vertical cylindrical structures constructed underground, for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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N A HOT and sticky day in the northern city of Tianjin, America and China held their highest-level meeting on Chinese soil since Joe Biden was sworn in as America’s president in January. But the encounter on July 26th between Wendy Sherman, America’s deputy secretary of state, and counterparts from China’s foreign ministry failed to clear the air. Instead, it merely deepened the gloom that hangs over the world’s most critical great-power relationship.
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According to an American spokesman, Ms Sherman promised “stiff competition” with China and raised its “ongoing genocide” in the far-western region of Xinjiang, among other sore issues. She suggested co-operation on tackling problems such as climate change, narcotics and Afghanistan. But that olive branch was snapped by Xie Feng, a deputy foreign minister, who said relations were at a “stalemate” and thundered that America’s aim was to “bring
China appears to be expanding its nuclear capabilities, US researchers say in new report
China is building a second field of missile silos in its western deserts, according to a new study, which researchers say signals a potential expansion of its nuclear arsenal and calls into question Beijing s commitment to its minimum deterrence strategy.
Identified via satellite imagery, the new missile base in China s Xinjiang region may eventually include 110 silos, said the report released on Monday by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
It is the second apparent silo field uncovered this month by researchers, adding to 120 silos that appear to be under construction in the neighbouring province of Gansu, as detailed by the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies.
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