The Security Index Occasional Paper Series Came Out With The New Report «China’s Strategic Non-Nuclear And Hypersonic Weapons In The Asia-Pacific Region» By Maxim Lats

MOSCOW, NOVEMBER 23, 2021. PIR PRESS. The Security Index Occasional Paper Series came out with the new report «China’s Strategic Non-nuclear and Hypersonic Weapons in the Asia-Pacific region» by Maxim Lats.

The “Chinese factor” is playing an increasingly important role in ensuring regional and international security. At the moment, there are no reasonable arguments in favor of China’s participation in arms control on an equal footing with Russia and the United States, but there is a tendency to correct this bias on the part of China. In terms of its influence on strategic stability, China can no longer be put on the same level as France or the UK. By modernizing and increasing the military budget, the PRC demonstrates its readiness to become a full-fledged “military superpower”, including in the field of rocket science and advanced technologies. This paper analyzes the Chinese arsenal of strategic non-nuclear weapons (SNNW) in the Asia-Pacific region (APR).

Key findings:

• The Asia-Pacific region is the most likely theater of military operations, which can be affected by the latest weapons, including hypersonic weapons and high-precision systems in non-nuclear equipment.
• The PRC is more concerned with the regional tasks of non-nuclear deterrence, which dictates the need to create hypersonic systems and mobile IRBM.
• Non-nuclear high-precision and high-speed weapons allow the PRC to stop the threat from the American Island Chain Strategy, reducing US naval activity in the region.
• The United States is seeking to deploy hypersonic missiles and IRNF missiles in non-nuclear equipment in the Asia-Pacific region, thereby hoping to strengthen the security of allies. Neither China nor Russia wants to see new American missile defense and IRNF systems in the region. Therefore, the possibility of deepening cooperation between Moscow and Beijing on these issues cannot be ruled out.
• China deliberately adheres to a nontransparent approach to the deployment of its nuclear and conventional missile weapons in order to use “ambiguity” to further deter the United States in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Russia does not consider the development of Chinese non-nuclear deterrent forces as a threat to its security and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

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