Washington has reportedly updated its guidance with a focus on China
US President Joe Biden has approved a highly classified nuclear strategy aimed at deterring Russia, China, and North Korea, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed officials at the Pentagon and the National Security Council.
The document – ‘Nuclear Employment Guidance’ – was adopted in March, marking the first time the US nuclear doctrine has been focused on Beijing’s rapidly developing nuclear capabilities, the newspaper said.
According to the NYT, the document is updated roughly every four years and is so secretive that there are no digitized copies.
Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Vipin Narang told reporters earlier this month that Biden “recently issued updated nuclear weapons employment guidance to account for multiple nuclear-armed adversaries.” China’s growing nuclear arsenal was something the US “neither anticipated nor accounted for” during nuclear planning decades ago, he added.
