{"id":132081,"date":"2026-07-14T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=132081"},"modified":"2026-07-11T06:44:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T04:44:06","slug":"14-00-124","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=132081","title":{"rendered":"China Launches ICBM, Sanders Proposes Disarmament"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr \/>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/images\/gatestone-logo-1000.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"50%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><span><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/22687\/china-launches-icbm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">China Launches ICBM, Sanders Proposes Disarmament<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Gordon G. Chang<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<ul class=\"content_preface_bullets\">\n<li><strong>China&#8217;s military activities have become far more brazen. Some Americans, unfortunately, have not noticed. For instance, Senators Edward Markey and Bernie Sanders introduced the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act last September.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center looks at the rapid increase in delivery platforms, such as missiles and submarines, and believes China will have 7,000 [nuclear warheads].<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>[I]f the United States is to possess a deterrent, it will have to carry through with existing plans to simultaneously modernize all three legs of its nuclear &#8220;triad&#8221;: missiles housed in land-based silos, weapons launched from submarines, and nukes carried by bombers and fighters.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The U.S. does not need to match the number of China&#8217;s and Russia&#8217;s nukes or delivery systems, but it does need to maintain a credible deterrent. Markey proposes to reduce &#8220;deployed strategic warheads from approximately 1,500 to 1,000.&#8221;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Markey&#8217;s proposal would create an imbalance that might tempt a bold or desperate aggressor to think it could, by making threats to launch, intimidate the U.S. into not defending an ally or friend. Russian President Vladimir Putin made such threats both before and after the start of his ongoing &#8220;special military operation&#8221; against Ukraine.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>More ominously, the test told the world of Chinese plans. Various publications have said that the test showed China&#8217;s second-strike \u2014 retaliatory \u2014 ability, but it also demonstrated something else. &#8220;This test clearly indicates China&#8217;s intent to obtain a first-strike capability,&#8221; said James Fanell, a former U.S. Navy captain who served as director of Intelligence and Information Operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, to this publication.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What will deter our enemies from launching nuclear first-strikes? Perhaps a sea-launched nuclear-armed cruise missile, a Golden Dome missile-defense system, or &#8220;any number of new technologies and strategies,&#8221; Peter Huessy of the National Institute for Deterrence Studies wrote shortly before China&#8217;s missile launch.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>One thing Huessy knows will not work: &#8220;unilateral restraint that does not take such threats seriously in the first place.&#8221;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gatestoneinstitute.org\/pics\/5738.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>China&#8217;s military activities have become far more brazen. On July 6, a Chinese Navy submarine launched either a JL-2 or JL-3 nuclear-capable, intercontinental ballistic missile, the first known Chinese submarine-launched missile test since 1982. Pictured: JL-3 missiles are displayed at a military parade in Beijing&#8217;s Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025. (Photo by Pedro Pardo\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"article_body itemprop_articlebody\">\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">On July 6, a Chinese Navy submarine\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/analysis\/chinas-slbm-test-underscores-importance-ballistic-missile-launch-notification-agreement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">launched<\/a>\u00a0either a JL-2 or JL-3 nuclear-capable, intercontinental ballistic missile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The missile, traveling in a southeasterly direction and carrying a mock warhead, landed in the Pacific Ocean, in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The launch was the first known Chinese submarine-launched missile test since 1982 and the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/military\/article\/3359541\/nuclear-powered-pla-submarine-fires-test-missile-western-pacific\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first ever<\/a>\u00a0from a Chinese nuclear-powered sub.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">&#8220;China&#8217;s long-range ballistic missile launch wasn&#8217;t just a routine drill,&#8221; the House Select Committee on China\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ChinaSelect\/status\/2074175889076580685\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted<\/a>\u00a0on X on July 6. &#8220;It was yet another act of CCP aggression toward our allies and like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">&#8220;Beijing is testing global patience to its absolute limit with an alarming nuclear-capable escalation directly in the Pacific,&#8221;\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/unveiled_chinax\/status\/2074082617243418646?s=61\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">commented<\/a>\u00a0the UnveiledChina site on X.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The official Xinhua News Agency\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/english.news.cn\/20260706\/9c7b56ebd3eb4c7da4f0155657dc82f0\/c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">called<\/a>\u00a0the launch &#8220;a routine arrangement of the annual training of the PLA Navy&#8221; and declared it was &#8220;not directed at any specific country or target.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Whether targeting any specific country or not, China&#8217;s military activities have become far more brazen. Some Americans, unfortunately, have not noticed. For instance, Senators Edward Markey and Bernie Sanders\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.markey.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/sens-markey-sanders-introduce-legislation-to-save-billions-on-nuclear-weapons\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">introduced<\/a>\u00a0the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act last September.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The SANE Act, as they call it, &#8220;would reduce wasteful nuclear weapons programs and generate tens of billions of dollars in cost savings.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">&#8220;It is time to halt the proliferation of wasteful nuclear weapons programs and create a future that is safe from the dangers of nuclear conflict,&#8221; Markey stated. &#8220;Under Trump, the United States is inviting a new nuclear arms race that will endanger the lives of Americans as well as all those around the world.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The United States is &#8220;inviting a new nuclear arms race&#8221;? The number of deployed warheads of China, Russia, and North Korea \u2014 perhaps 6,100 \u2014 outstrips that of the U.S., Britain, and France by about 460.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">China, for one, is on a tear. It could possess far more than the 620 warheads as currently estimated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The current number, however, is not the issue. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve seen anything more disturbing in my career than the Chinese ongoing expansion of their nuclear force,&#8221;\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stripes.com\/branches\/air_force\/2023-03-28\/air-force-china-nuclear-weapons-9634406.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>\u00a0Frank Kendall when he was secretary of the Air Force in House testimony in March 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">&#8220;We are witnessing a strategic breakout by China,&#8221; Admiral Charles Richard, then commander of U.S. Strategic Command in 2021,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.war.gov\/News\/News-Stories\/Article\/Article\/2729519\/china-russia-pose-strategic-challenges-for-us-allies-admiral-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The Pentagon, in a November 2022 report,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/taiwan-europe-china-united-states-beijing-af4dd76e993f450df7af8e63d1a0187c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">forecast<\/a>\u00a0that China would quadruple warheads from about 400 then to 1,500 by 2035.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">That is an underestimation. James Howe, the noted nuclear analyst,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalinterest.org\/blog\/buzz\/chinas-nuclear-weapons-buildup-strategic-breakout-207774\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">predicts<\/a>\u00a0China will have between 3,390 and 3,740 weapons by that year. Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center looks at the rapid increase in delivery platforms, such as missiles and submarines, and believes China will have 7,000.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Whatever estimate turns out to be correct, it is simply wrong to think, as Markey does, that the United States is to blame for an arms race. In fact, America has not been looking to increase the number of warheads.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">America does plan to spend substantial sums on its arsenal. Markey reports &#8220;approximately $1 trillion over the next decade.&#8221; But if the United States is to possess a deterrent, it will have to carry through with existing plans to simultaneously modernize all three legs of its nuclear &#8220;triad&#8221;: missiles housed in land-based silos, weapons launched from submarines, and nukes carried by bombers and fighters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">All three legs of the U.S. nuclear deterrent are aging; in many cases delivery systems are already beyond useful lives. Parts of the arsenal now cost more to sustain than to replace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The big spend is not &#8220;wasteful,&#8221; and it is not driven by Washington. It is driven by Beijing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">There are now no more bilateral arms agreements with Russia. The last one, known as &#8220;New START,&#8221; expired in February. The U.S. did not renew it because of blatant Russian violations and China&#8217;s refusal to engage in arms-control talks. With Russia and China cooperating militarily, the U.S. is outnumbered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The U.S. does not need to match the number of China&#8217;s and Russia&#8217;s nukes or delivery systems, but it does need to maintain a credible deterrent. Markey proposes to reduce &#8220;deployed strategic warheads from approximately 1,500 to 1,000.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Markey&#8217;s proposal would create an imbalance that might tempt a bold or desperate aggressor to think it could, by making threats to launch, intimidate the U.S. into not defending an ally or friend. Russian President Vladimir Putin made such threats both before and after the start of his ongoing &#8220;special military operation&#8221; against Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Is China also thinking of making threats of this sort? Beijing could have tested this missile anywhere, but its choice says much about its intentions. As the Lexington Institute&#8217;s Rebecca Grant told Gatestone, &#8220;Beijing could not have picked a more obnoxious flight path.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The missile, for instance,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/josephwutw\/status\/2074121838410752035\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">overflew<\/a>\u00a0what the Chinese call the First Island and Second Island Chains and was aimed in the general direction of Fiji, which on the same day\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/australia-fiji-strike-new-defence-alliance-2026-07-06\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">signed<\/a>\u00a0a landmark defense pact with Australia. The agreement had angered Beijing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">More ominously, the test told the world of Chinese plans. Various publications have said that the test showed China&#8217;s second-strike \u2014 retaliatory \u2014 ability, but it also demonstrated something else. &#8220;This test clearly indicates China&#8217;s intent to obtain a first-strike capability,&#8221; said James Fanell, a former U.S. Navy captain who served as director of Intelligence and Information Operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, to this publication.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">What will deter our enemies from launching nuke first-strikes? Perhaps a sea-launched nuclear-armed cruise missile, a Golden Dome missile-defense system, or &#8220;any number of new technologies and strategies,&#8221; Peter Huessy of the National Institute for Deterrence Studies\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.realcleardefense.com\/articles\/2026\/07\/03\/nuclear_choices_ahead_what_road_to_take_1192393.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a>\u00a0shortly before China&#8217;s missile launch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">One thing Huessy knows will not work: &#8220;unilateral restraint that does not take such threats seriously in the first place.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><i><strong>Gordon G. Chang<\/strong> is the author of<\/i>\u00a0<a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Plan-Red-Project-Destroy-America-ebook\/dp\/B0D5DRVZ46\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Plan Red: China&#8217;s Project to Destroy America<\/a>, a\u00a0<i>Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Follow Gordon G. Chang on\u00a0<a style=\"color: #808080;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GordonGChang\">X (formerly Twitter)<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>China Launches ICBM, Sanders Proposes Disarmament Gordon G. Chang China&#8217;s military activities have become far more brazen. Some Americans, unfortunately, have not noticed. For instance, Senators Edward Markey and Bernie Sanders introduced the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures Act last September. Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center looks at the rapid increase [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132081"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132102,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132081\/revisions\/132102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=132081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=132081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}