US defense chief urges nuclear force upgrade citing China’s stockpile

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has called for the modernization of American nuclear force and “maintain readiness” to ensure the safety of the Indo-Pacific region, accusing China of doubling its nuclear arsenal amid persisting tensions between the two countries regarding their military operations in the region.

"As China moves to at least double the size of its nuclear stockpile, modernizing our nuclear force and maintaining readiness is essential to a free and open Indo-Pacific," Esper claimed on Saturday in a Twitter message.

Esper’s statement came following a meeting in the US island territory of Guam with Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono, who told reporters in Tokyo in an online press briefing that both counterparts shared concerns about “Chinese actions in the region,” and that both allies opposed any unilateral attempt to change “the status quo” in the strategic waterways of the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

“We agreed that the international community will respond firmly to any unilateral change to the status quo in the South China Sea as well as the East China Sea,” Kono asserted.

Beijing’s claim to a group of tiny East China Sea islets controlled by Tokyo remains a thorny issue in China’s relations with Japan.

The Japanese minister further underlined that Esper had confirmed that the US-Japan security treaty covered the East China Sea islets, known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China.

The development came a day after the Chinese military warned of an unintentional military confrontation with the US if American forces do not halt their naval operations in the South China Sea, insisting that recent US activities in the region are instigating such hostilities.

ME