China Military Buildup

The Pentagon’s latest assessment says China’s nuclear stockpile was in the “low 600s” by the end of 2024 (described elsewhere as more than 600 warheads) and projects roughly 1,000 by 2030 while Beijing increasingly trains for an “early‑warning counterstrike” posture that could make its forces more hair‑trigger. The report also warns China is making steady progress on more sophisticated and longer‑range conventional and nuclear capabilities and is developing options to threaten Taiwan with “brute force,” even as Beijing remains uncertain it could successfully invade the island despite Xi Jinping’s directive to build a seizure capability by 2027.