(NewsInsights.org) – Gen. Anthony Cotton presented a report before the House Armed Services Committee on Strategic Forces in March 2023, stating, among other things, that China is continuing to develop its nuclear capabilities and reach despite far exceeding its stated goal policy of “minimum deterrence.” He advised that China had produced six Jin-class ballistic missile submarines in the last three years. China is aggressively growing its naval fleet, especially using some vessels as dual-purpose ships, according to a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report.
These reports indicate China is increasing the number of vessels, continuously upgrading the technological capabilities of its submarines to make them quieter and, therefore, less detectable, faster, and able to use a broader range of munitions. Additionally, China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Navy (PLAN) is expanding its fleet even faster by pressing seemingly non-naval vessels like research ships into use as spy ships.
Many Chinese research vessels deploy in geopolitical hotspots or breach areas requiring authorization from foreign governments, like exclusive economic zones (EEZs). CSIS studied 64 Chinese research or survey ships between 2020 and 2023 and found disturbing behavior from 52 of those vessels. Behaviors included “going dark” by turning off automated identification systems for periods or “spoofing” by misidentifying themselves or providing false verification.
Moreover, China shows signs of pressing beyond the long-disputed South China Sea and appears headed toward the Indian Ocean. A separate CSIS report from November 2023 discussed China’s Submarine Diplomacy in countries neighboring India, like Bangladesh and Myanmar, which compete economically with India and Sri Lanka.
In his report, Cotton mentioned one other trend the US analysts and its allies found concerning. China has “significantly” increased its “investment in lower-yield,
Precision [nuclear] systems,” which he said the nation could use “coercively during an escalation crisis.” He likened the potential to Russia’s saber-rattling threats of using low-yield nuclear armaments against Ukraine. He said the marked increase presented a potential deterrence problem for the US and its allies.
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