The role of nuclear weapons in China’s national defence

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" ... China’s top leaders in the politburo and Central Military Commission exercise strict control over both the formulation of nuclear strategy and the authority to alert or use nuclear weapons. To ensure they’re not used accidentally, mistakenly or without authorisation, nuclear weapons are kept off alert in peacetime and warheads are stored separately from delivery systems in a central depot deep in the country’s interior. ...

First, Chinese strategists acknowledge the shortcomings of the current generation of Type-094 submarines, which are noisy and therefore vulnerable to sophisticated US strategic anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities. ... racing against simultaneous American ASW improvements—something the US has proven adept at throughout and since the Cold War.

Second, and regardless of its technological progress, China does not (yet) appear to have invested in its own strategic ASW forces. It may therefore lack confidence that SSBNs patrolling in the open ocean could evade detection by US ASW capabilities. ...

Third, China’s geography makes its SSBNs more vulnerable to ASW than those of the US and other naval nuclear powers because they must pass through chokepoints in the first island chain to enter the Western Pacific. The territory bordering those chokepoints belongs to US allies and partners, who may assist US ASW with shore-based signals processing. No technical improvements to Chinese submarines are likely to be able to overcome the disadvantages posed by its geography.

Fourth, developing operational doctrine for SSBNs poses distinctive challenges to strict control of top Chinese leaders over the use of nuclear weapons. Those leaders may not be comfortable with pre-delegating authority to use nuclear weapons to submarine commanders if communications are severed, or mating nuclear warheads and missiles in peacetime. ..."





The role of nuclear weapons in China’s national defence | The Strategist