Joe Biden approved secret nuclear strategy focusing on ‘Chinese threat’: New York Times

The highly classified plan for the first time reorients Washington’s deterrent strategy on China’s expansion of its atomic arsenal

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Spectators wave Chinese flags as military vehicles carrying DF-41 ballistic missiles roll during a parade in Beijing in October 2019. Photo: AP

Published: 4:37am, 21 Aug 2024Updated: 11:21pm, 21 Aug 2024

The United States has updated a highly classified nuclear strategy to address China’s growing arsenal and its potential collaboration with Russia and other countries, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The “Nuclear Employment Guidance,” typically revised every four years, is accessible only to a select group of administration officials because of its sensitive nature. Even members of Congress do not have full access to the guidelines, which detail the US response in the event of a nuclear attack.

US President Joe Biden approved the revised plan in March, according to The Times.

For the first time, the revised guidance explicitly mentions deterrence strategies aimed at “China’s rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal,” The Times said. The document also addresses the potential for coordinated attacks involving China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

Senior Biden administration officials have hinted at the change before. In June, Pranay Vaddi, a senior director at the National Security Council, told an arms control conference that, in light of “the realities of a new nuclear era,” Biden had expanded the policy to address the threats posed by these countries.