New Delhi, June 26 -- Beijing has consistently framed its nuclear posture as uniquely self-defensive and oriented toward the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons. Its April 2026 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty National Report (NPTNR) exemplifies this: China "advocates the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons," commits to a "nuclear strategy of self-defense," and insists it "will never engage in a nuclear arms race with any other country"

Yet the material evidence presents a more complicated picture. Satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters in May 2026 highlighted the expansion of Beijing's strategic infrastructure in the remote Xinjiang desert, particularly around the Hami nuclear silo fields. Analysts at the F...