China Flaunts Nuclear Prowess

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) says it has deployed all of its new nuclear weapons displayed at the National Day military parade in 2019.

On Sunday, State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe said the Chinese nuclear force has made “impressive progress” since it started developing the capabilities five years ago.

“Let me be frank. China’s policy on nuclear power is consistent. We use it for self-defense, we will not be the first to use nuclear power, and we develop nuclear capabilities with an ultimate goal of eliminating nuclear weapons. We develop nuclear capabilities to protect the peaceful hard work of the Chinese people and to protect our country from the scourge of war, particularly nuclear war,” Wei said.

All weapons and equipment displayed at the military parade celebrating the 70th National Day in 2019 have entered service with the troops, but China does not participate in an arms race, and China’s nuclear weapon development is appropriate to the times, walking on a path of nuclear power development with Chinese characteristics, Wei said.

He added that China “pursues a path of peaceful development and does not seek hegemony.”

Beijing held a grand parade, the largest in two decades, on 1 October 2019 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The scale of that year's military parade exceeded those of the 50th and 60th anniversaries, as well as the parade in 2015 that commemorated the 70th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45). The 2015 parade involved around 12,000 people, including 11 infantry formations, 27 equipment formations and 10 air formations. Around 500 pieces and 40 types of equipment and 200 aircraft of 20 types were on display. Some 84% of the equipment made their maiden appearances.

In 2019 parade, China showed off the Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) intercontinental-range ballistic missile (ICBM), touted to be the most powerful missile on the planet. It has a range of up to 15,000km, more than any other missile; and is capable of carrying 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads. According to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Dongfeng-41 could theoretically, hit the United States in 30 minutes.

DF-17 conventional missile sed for precision strikes against medium-and-close targets as well as hypersonic CJ-100 missile that can strike long-range targets also made their debut during the 2019 edition of the parade. Other equipment showcased includes the second-generation JL-2 long-range ballistic missiles; solid-fuel DF-31 nuclear missiles; and DF-5B nuclear missiles, which can carry multiple warheads.