Nineteen days after taking power as China’s leader, Xi Jinping convened the generals overseeing the country’s nuclear missiles and issued a blunt demand.
Publicly, Mr. Xi’s remarks on nuclear matters have been sparse and formulaic.
But his comments behind closed doors, revealed in the speech, show that anxiety and ambition have driven his transformative buildup of China’s nuclear weapons arsenal in the past decade.
From those early days, Mr. Xi signaled that a robust nuclear force was needed to mark China’s ascent as a great power.
He also reflected fears that China’s relatively modest nuclear weaponry could be vulnerable against the United States — the “powerful enemy” — with its ring of Asian allies.
Persons:
Xi Jinping, Xi, Xi’s
Organizations:
Second Artillery Corps, The New York Times, Publicly, United
Locations:
China, United States