Reported 10 months ago
A semi-official dialogue between the US and China regarding nuclear weapons, held in March after a 5-year hiatus, centered on the possibility of using nuclear weapons in a Taiwan Strait conflict. Chinese representatives assured that China has the capability to win traditional weapon warfare without resorting to nuclear weapons, reaffirming their longstanding policy of not being the first to use nuclear weapons. The US Pentagon had previously suggested that China might consider using nuclear weapons in a Taiwan conflict to prevent regime change, estimating China's nuclear warheads to exceed 500 and possibly reach 1000 by 2030. The dialogue, part of over 20 years of US-China nuclear talks, had funding cut by the Trump administration in 2019, but resumed this year with discussions about broader security and energy issues before focusing on nuclear weapons in March.
Source: YAHOO