China Strategic Forces
OVERVIEW Although China advocates a complete prohibition and destruction of nuclear weapons, it retains a formidable second-strike strategic capability. Beijing also professes a no-first-use policy. Its nuclear forces are presented as a means of deterrence and counterattack in self-defense. Beijing signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996, but has yet to ratify it. China possesses a credible minimum deterrent force with land, sea and air elements. Land-based forces include...