BEIJING, August 7. /TASS/. The new strategy that the United States is drafting with an emphasis on the potential use of shorter-range tactical nuclear weapons in a conflict with China or Russia increases the risk of a devastating global conflict, Chinese military expert Zhang Junshe said.
"Such a nuclear strategy may sound appealing, but implementing it would be a path toward self-destruction," the Global Times newspaper quoted the Chinese expert as saying.
"This reckless approach, driven by strategic ambitions and military-industrial interests, will not strengthen US deterrence credibility but will only increase the risk of global nuclear conflict and threaten world peace and security," Zhang stressed.
Technically, the United States has the capability to develop tactical nuclear weapons for air, land and sea platforms and could even outfit land-based hypersonic cruise missiles with nuclear warheads, the expert said, adding that different US military branches would likely compete for funding, thus driving the parallel development of several tactical nuclear weapons programs.
The US shift towards making nuclear weapons battlefield ready is extremely dangerous, he emphasized.
"The effectiveness of nuclear deterrence lies in the extremely high threshold for use and the devastating consequences involved. By deliberately lowering the nuclear threshold, the US will only undermine global nuclear stability and fuel a new arms race," the expert explained.
The US-based NBC News TV Channel reported earlier, citing sources that the Pentagon was drafting a new nuclear strategy that reportedly emphasizes the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons in a regional conflict with China or Russia.