Is a nuclear arms race inevitable? China has been building up its nuclear arsenal over the past few years. While it remains significantly smaller than the US and Russia’s, what does this mean for geopolitics against the backdrop of US-China tensions and the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

Tong Zhao (@zhaot2005) is a fellow at the Carnegie Center in Beijing who focuses on China’s nuclear program. Co-hosting is Schwarzmann Scholar Raven Witherspoon.

We also discuss

• Why China sees NATO as the aggressor and Russia as the victim
• Why policy experts’ lack of technical literacy is a big problem
• How China understands nuclear deterrence
• China’s argument for Putin being a rational actor
• Whether there is any hope

Outro music: 七里香 Remix (original version by Jay Chou) by MACOVASEAS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVvpgNG0giM

ChinaTalk is on Substack! See, share, subscribe: https://chinatalk.substack.com

Also now on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXOtILmQEo3pL_1bJfUOFWw

And please consider supporting ChinaTalk on Patreon so we can eat more Haidilao before the world ends: https://www.patreon.com/ChinaTalk

Get bonus content on Patreon

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices