China quietly expands its nuclear might

China is rapidly building up its nuclear weapons program, with major construction underway at sites across the country, according to a September 23 Telegraph analysis of satellite imagery. The new projects include underground test sites, ventilation stacks, massive chemical storage tanks, industrial heat exchangers, support towns for workers and a 2,000-foot-long shock tube for testing how nuclear weapons components withstand powerful blasts. Under General Secretary Xi Jinping, China’s stockpile of nuclear weapons has more than doubled to an estimated 620 nuclear warheads as of January. The arsenal is projected to more than double again by 2035, reaching 1,500 warheads. The rapid buildup shows that Xi is not simply expanding the arsenal but methodically laying the industrial and scientific foundations for a full-spectrum, nuclear war-fighting force.