United States Fears of China Nuclear Expansion..Deja Vu of Soviet Missile Gap Hype by Finian Cunningham!
(2021-07-31 at 14:32:27 )

United States Fears of China Nuclear Expansion..Deja Vu of Soviet Missile Gap Hype by Finian Cunningham!

China is providing the equivalent scaremongering of the Soviet "missile gap" in order to sustain the United States of Americas militarist-dependent capitalist economy.

Media reports from the United States this week - regurgitated by the European press - highlighted concerns that China is embarking on a massive scale-up of underground silos for launching nuclear weapons.

Hundreds of silos are alleged to be under construction in the western regions of Xinjiang and Gansu, according to United States media reports citing commercial satellite data. United States of American military officials and State Department diplomats are quoted as saying they are "deeply concerned" by the purported expansion of Chinas nuclear arsenal.

For its part, Beijing has not yet commented on the claims of new nuclear silos. Some Chinese media reports say that the excavation could be due to something else entirely - the construction of large-scale wind farms. A Global Times dismissed the United States claims as "hyped".

Context, as ever, is crucial. For a start, the United States headlines are equivocal and heavily qualified, indicating that the information is far from conclusive.

The Wall Street Journal reported: "China Appears to Be Building New Silos for Nuclear Missiles, Researchers Say".

While CNN headlined: "China appears to be expanding its nuclear capabilities, United States researchers say in new report".

Despite the lack of definite information that did not stop Pentagon and government officials from saying they were "deeply concerned", thus adding a veneer of factuality to reports that were speculative.

Here is another consideration.

So what if China is expanding its nuclear arsenal with new silos??

The Peoples Republic of China has a stockpile of warheads numbering 350. The United States has a stockpile of some 5,550 warheads, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The United States has a nuclear offensive power 15 times greater than China. So even if China is planning to double its arsenal of nuclear weapons, according to the Pentagon, that increase is still a fraction of the United States of American destructive capability.

Beijing maintains that the onus is on Washington,D.C. to de-escalate its nuclear arsenal. The United States and Russia have resumed talks this week in Geneva on renewing arms-control efforts - efforts that have been put on hold by Washington,D.C. since the Donald Trump administration.

Washington,D.C. and Moscow - both possessing over 90 percent of the worlds total nuclear warheads - need to get on with their obligations for disarmament before China is reasonably brought into the discussion, along with other minor nuclear powers, such as Britain and France.

Another consideration for context is the ramping up of hostility by the United States towards China. The Biden administration is continuing the aggressive agenda of its Donald Trump and Barack Obama predecessors.

Arming the renegade Chinese island territory of Taiwan, sailing warships into the South China Sea, media vilification of China over allegations of human rights abuses, genocide, malign conduct in trade, cyberattacks, and the Covid-19 pandemic. All of this speaks of stoking confrontation with China and inflaming United States public opinion to accept war with China.

Pentagon officials tell Congressional hearings that they consider war with China a distinct possibility in the near term.

Given this context, it would be reasonable to expect China to expand its nuclear defenses in order to shift the United States of American calculation away from contemplating a war.

The problem is not the alleged Chinese military buildup. It is Washington,D.C.s criminal policy of hostility towards Beijing that is fueling the risk of war.

But here is another key factor: the United States is undergoing a trillion-dollar upgrade of its nuclear arsenal.

That began under Barack Obama and was continued under Donald Trump and now Joe Biden. That puts alleged Chinese expansion into perspective.

The United States has already nuclear power that dwarfs Chinas and yet the United States is expanding what is a provocative threat to China.

Furthermore, Washington,D.C.s nuclear upgrade of its triad of submarines, silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic bombers is hurtling out of control financially.

A recent report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office warned that the trillion-dollar nuclear upgrade was ballooning with "stupefyingly expensive" cost overruns. In just two years, the cost was over-budget by $140 billion and the upgrade program is to run for a total of three decades.

This eye-watering waste of taxpayers money has led some United States lawmakers to call for drastic cuts in nuclear arms expenditure.

Senator Ed Markey and others have decried "our bloated nuclear weapons budget". Given the crumbling state of the United States of Americas civilian infrastructure, popular opposition to exorbitant military spending is potentially a major political problem for the Pentagon and its industrial complex.

The United States media hype over the alleged expansion of Chinese silos begins to look like deja vu of the alleged "missile gap" with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

In the 1950s and 60s, Washington,D.C. and the compliant corporate media became animated by Central Intelligence Agency data that purported to show the Soviet Union outpacing the United States in the numbers of nuclear missiles.

It turned out that the "missile gap" was non-existent. But the fear-mongering it engendered, in turn, created public acceptance of massive military expenditure by Washington,D.C. that has become structural and chronic to this day.

The warped allocation of financial resources is a parasitical drain on United States of American society. Any rational, democratic mind would abhor the grotesque priorities.

China today is providing the equivalent scaremongering of the Soviet "missile gap" in order to sustain the United States of Americas militarist-dependent capitalist economy.

Reprinted here from the "Strategic Culture Foundation" provides a platform for exclusive analysis, research and policy comment on Eurasian and global affairs. We are covering political, economic, social and security issues worldwide. Since 2005 our journal has published thousands of analytical briefs and commentaries with the unique perspective of independent contributors. SCF works to broaden and diversify expert discussion by focusing on hidden aspects of international politics and unconventional thinking. Benefiting from the expanding power of the Internet, we work to spread reliable information, critical thought and progressive ideas.