China: Nuclear Weapons
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of China's no first use nuclear strike policy.
Answered by Al Carns
The UK’s nuclear policy, most recently outlined in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, remains unchanged. The UK does not believe China’s No First Use policy is credible. It is extremely unlikely that in extreme circumstances a state in possession of nuclear weapons would not be willing to use them. China continues to expand and diversify its nuclear arsenal and fails to explain the rationale and intent behind its modernisation and how this aligns with its doctrine.
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