Publications

China, long an afterthought in U.S. nuclear planning, is rising to the forefront of strategic concerns. While most of the five nuclear weapons states are modernizing their arsenals, China is the only one among them that is increasing its nuclear weapons. In its annual report on the Chinese military, the Pentagon concluded in 2008 that "China has the most active ballistic missile program in the world." Its force modernization program is giving Chinese military planners entirely new options to deal with contingencies and necessitating a response from their counterparts in the United States.

The Pacific Forum CSIS and the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, with support from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, have supported for two years a dialogue that brings together analysts from the U.S. and China to discuss strategic concerns. This dialogue has tried to promote better understanding of each country’s perspective on security issues and challenges. While rewarding, the results have also been frustrating: despite a candid and detailed dialogue, there is still a long way to go on both sides.