Concerns of Growing Nuclear Alliance Between Russia and China

As the alliance between China and Russia grow, there are new fears among the U.S. intelligence that nuclear strategies could pose a nuclear threat soon, as mentioned by an Air Force general.

General Anthony J. Cotton is currently a commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command and nominee for Strategic Command commander. He told a Senate confirmation hearing that a China-Russia nuclear axis would require a stronger U.S. nuclear deterrent and new thinking on how the U.S. would respond to a nuclear issue.

The comments were made the same day both leaders called for increasing cooperation in the growing strategic partnership during their meeting with Uzbekistan. Xi Jinping said China supports working with Russia on their “core issues.” as there are “no limits” of cooperation between the two.

According to U.S. intelligence, China’s nuclear forces are expanding to a thousand warheads by the end of the decade along with new delivery systems. Russia recently finished the program to modernize its nuclear forces with cutting-edge strategic weapons that include a hypersonic missile, a nuclear-armed drone torpedo and a nuclear-powered cruise missile.

As the current plans are to maintain the aging force of missiles, bombers and submarines, funding delays in the modernization could undermine the threat from China and Russia.