Like the United States, Russia, Great Britain and France, China is an official nuclear power. India, Pakistan and North Korea being recognized as possessing nuclear weapons.
In this category, Russia has the largest arsenal with nearly 6,500 warheads against 6,000 on the American side. Officially France comes third with its 300 units, China having declared 250.
But this figure is controversial, Beijing remaining very mysterious as to its real arsenal. “ It’s hard to get the right numbers “, confirms Nicolas Gosset. ” This number seems very underestimated “, explains the IRSD researcher.
Most experts believe that China really has between 700 and 800 nuclear warheads, or even 1000 according to a source close to the Chinese army quoted by the South China Morning Post.
Difficult to see clearly, but Chinese nuclear power is real and operational. Just like his army, ” a well-equipped, well-trained and disciplined army, like its entire population “, concludes Nicolas Gosset.