How China's Xi Jinping eyes global domination: 20 lakh troops, 500 nuke warheads

President Xi Jinping is head of PLA as Chairman of the Central Military Commission.

While Europe is witnessing conflict in Ukraine, China has built a massive military that now poses the greatest threat to the world. According to The Sun report, Beijing with its army and nuclear arsenal is expediting its ability to unleash its full might and looking at global domination.

Xi Jinping, considered by many China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has ruled the country with an iron fist and jails anyone who criticises his regime. His Communist regime has poured billions into the development of new weapons.

According to UK’s International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), China’s defence budget stood at a whopping 175 billion pounds ( ₹18.30 lakh crore) last year. With more than 20 lakh active personnel, the Chinese army is the biggest in the world. The US has an army of around 13 lakh active reserves.

China could have 500 nuke warheads

According to the report, China could have now 500 nuclear warheads, and more are being developed. US and Russia have over 5,000 nuclear warheads each, but experts believe that Beijing’s ability to pump in money to develop more weapons means there is a hidden threat.

According to Meia Nouwens, a China expert at the IISS, the West will be looking to strengthen its war arsenal in view of the Chinese military might. However, some Western countries fear that they will not be able to match up to Chinese war machine.

Nouwens added that there is an insecurity in the West about their own capabilities, adding that China might be ahead if it is actually not.

According to a Pentagon report last year, the Communist nation was planning to double its nuke arsenal in the next six years, and could have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 10 times over.

Beijing also has allies including Iran, Russia and Saudi Arabia, and could bolster its nuclear and military arsenals by strengthening ties with the powerful leaders of these countries.

Ashok Swain, professor of peace and security at Uppsala University, told the website that China might have fewer nukes than West or Russia, but is definitely developing more powerful nuclear bombs and modernising its delivery systems.

Swain said that some Western countries are working to ramp up their military strength, but the progress is ‘minimal’ and is aimed at Russia instead of China. Robert Wall, an IISS security expert, has said that China’s weapons pose an even great threat to the West than Russia.

He added that the Chinese have modernised their weaponry across land, air and sea, spending years catching up first with Russia and then the US. Last year, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that Russia’s Vladimir Putin was ‘not even’ close to how dangerous Xi Jinping is.

Predicting that China’s air power and space tech could potentially surpass US in the next 10-15 years, Swain said that Beijing’s energy weapons can incapacitate the West by destroying or damaging their satellites.

China’s Taiwan ambitions

It is no secret that China considers Taiwan as its own territory and has declared to occupy it by force if needed. The island, that split from mainland China in 1949, asserts itself as a self-governing nation.

According to experts, Jinping is likely to use blockades to cut off Taiwan from Western support until it surrenders to the Chinese might. Beijing has ramped up flights into Taiwan’s air defence zone and military activities.

The Taiwan battle has strained relations between the US and China. As per intelligence report, Jinping has ordered his People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to be prepared to annex Taiwan by 2027.

Read more news like this on HindustanTimes.com