Abstract
Transparency and accountability are fundamental enablers for arms control and nuclear weapon safety and security. As noted in a United Nations-supported Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission report, “increased transparency of nuclear-weapons-related information is an indispensable prerequisite for more progress in nuclear disarmament and its verification.” Among the least understood elements of the world’s nuclear weapon arsenal is the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) system for storing and maintaining its nuclear warhead stockpile. The dearth of information is in part purposeful – its nuclear warhead stockpile naturally is among China’s most closely guarded secrets.
Under a declaratory no-first-use policy, the PRC’s nuclear deterrent has relied upon quantitative and geographic ambiguity.8 Yet after more than 40 years, it appears that Chinese censorship is relaxing to the point that sufficient information can be pieced to together to form an initial mosaic of how the PRC may store and maintain its most powerful and destructive weapons. This image is tiled together through a mix of authoritative sources, correlation of reliable data, and analysis.
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