Don't look now but China is tripling its nuclear stockpile

A new report from the Pentagon says China’s swelling nuclear stockpile makes it a growing rival to the U.S. The congressionally mandated annual report, which assesses China’s military and security strategy, predicted China would amass a stockpile of about 1,500 warheads by 2035. That is more than three times the number of known warheads they have today.

The report, published Tuesday, concluded that Beijing’s military expansion is transforming China into a global force and putting it on track to keep the U.S. from intervening in a potential crisis with Taiwan.

The Pentagon report also concluded that China’s goal of expanding its nuclear arsenal, and its military pursuit of control of Taiwan, had not been hampered over the past year.

In September, NATO held their first dedicated debate on Taiwan, which China claims sovereignty over. The U.S. had encouraged other members of the transatlantic security alliance to pay more attention to the threat of China on the island.