About this Event
China’s nuclear build-up: Implications and the future of US-China strategic relations
There is evidence that China is developing its nuclear arsenal much more and much faster than previously assumed.
So much so that Admiral Charles Richard, Commander of the US Strategic Command, has described Beijing’s military investments as a “strategic breakout.”
Last year, the bipartisan Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States also stated that at its current pace, China “will reach rough quantitative parity with the United States in deployed nuclear warheads by the mid-2030s.”
What are the implications of this build-up? What does it mean for US-China relations, now and in the foreseeable future?
Drawing on recent dialogue and interactions with Chinese officials and scholars, David Santoro will answer these questions.
About the Speaker
David Santoro is the President and CEO of the Pacific Forum. He specializes in strategic and security issues with a regional focus on both Asia and Europe.
Dr Santoro’s current interests focus on great-power dynamics, US alliances, and deterrence, particularly the role of China in an era of nuclear multipolarity.
In 2021, Lynne Rienner published his volume on U.S.-China Nuclear Relations – The Impact of Strategic Triangles. Dr Santoro also leads several of the Forum’s track-1.5 and track-2 strategic dialogues.
Before joining Pacific Forum, Santoro worked on similar issues in France, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In the spring of 2010, Dr Santoro was also a visiting fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation and, in 2010-2011, he was a Stanton nuclear security fellow at the Institute for International Strategic Studies in London.
