China raises nuclear arsenal by 60 warheads: think tank

China increased its nuclear arsenal by 60 warheads to 410 in the 12 months to January 2023, an international security think tank said, adding that the increase was more than in any of the other eight nuclear-armed states.

The number of warheads in military stockpiles for potential use among the five-recognized nuclear powers of the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain plus India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel rose 86 to 9,576 over the period as arsenals were modernized, Kyodo reports citing the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Including retired warheads awaiting dismantlement, the overall nuclear inventories of the nine countries fell to 12,512 from 12,710, the think tank estimates in its annual report.

The significant expansion of China's nuclear arsenal was "increasingly difficult to square" with the country's "declared aim of having only the minimum nuclear forces needed to maintain its national security," Hans Kristensen, an associate senior fellow at SIPRI, said in the report.

China's arsenal is expected to continue growing, the report said, adding that Beijing "could potentially have at least as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as either the US or Russia by the turn of the decade."

Beijing maintains a "no-first-use" policy which means it would theoretically only use nuclear weapons in retaliation against a nuclear attack. But defense experts have warned that Beijing could abandon the policy once it modernizes its military.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Beijing keeps its nuclear capabilities "at the minimum level required by national security" and does not target any country.

Wang told a press conference in the capital that China abides by the no-first-use policy at all times and under all circumstances and will not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear countries and regions. He pledged that Beijing will continue to commit to global peace and security.

Of the stockpiles of 9,576 warheads, the United States held 3,708, unchanged from a year earlier, and Russia raised its arsenal to 4,489 from 4,477. The stockpiles of the world's two biggest nuclear powers accounted for about 86 percent of the total.

North Korea's arsenal was estimated to have grown from 25 to 30 warheads, the report said, adding that the country could have enough fissile material to produce 50 to 70 warheads.

Nuclear diplomacy and arms control have suffered major setbacks since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, the report said.

In the wake of the invasion, the United States halted its bilateral strategic stability dialogue with Russia, and Moscow suspended its participation in the New START treaty, their last remaining nuclear arms control pact, in February this year.

The United States and Britain also declined to release information on their nuclear forces in 2022, the report said, in a further blow to nuclear transparency efforts.

"The risks of miscalculation, misunderstanding or accident are unacceptably high," SIPRI's Director Dan Smith said. "There is an urgent need to restore nuclear diplomacy and strengthen international controls on nuclear arms."