The secret tests that expose China’s race for nuclear superiority

Nuclear ambitions in China, Russia, North Korea and Iran – all states hostile to the West, with the first three located in relative proximity – may mean that the US seeks to divert resources to counter aggression, leaving Europe exposed. That “could create uncertainties over the ability of US strategic forces to simultaneously deter aggression in two theatres,” wrote Darya Dolzikova, a senior research fellow specialising in nuclear proliferation and deterrence at Rusi, a UK defence think tank, in a recent report. “Growing US requirements to deter both China and Russia raise concerns over just how much the US nuclear umbrella can stretch in terms of capabilities before it starts to leak.”