President Biden in March reportedly approved in secret a change to the highly classified U.S. nuclear posture in the wake of growing aggression from nations like Russia and China, but the White House on Tuesday said this step was just business as usual.
In response to a report by the New York Times that suggested Washington’s nuclear posture had been altered to address Beijing’s expanding nuclear arsenal, a White House spokesperson told reporters the "guidance issued earlier this year is not a response to any single entity, country, nor threat."
"This administration, like the four administrations before it, issued a Nuclear Posture Review and Nuclear Weapons Employment Planning Guidance," White House spokesperson Sean Savett said.
"While the specific text of the Guidance is classified, its existence is in no way secret," he added.
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Questions have mounted regarding any potential changes to the U.S. nuclear strategy of deterrence after The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Biden shifted Washington’s strategy for the "first time" to focus on China.
But in 2022, the Department of Defense released its "National Defense Strategy, Nuclear Posture Review, and Missile Defense Review" in which it said the U.S. would take an "integrated" approach to U.S. security threats, detailing China first and Russia second.
Last year the Pentagon confirmed that Beijing had some 400 nuclear warheads in its stockpiles, a level the U.S. previously estimated it would not reach until the end of this decade. China is now expected to more than triple its nuclear stockpile by 2035, according to the Arms Control Association (ACA).
Despite concerns surrounding China’s growing nuclear capabilities, Russia and the U.S. individually still possess more than 11 times the number of nuclear warheads than China – accounting for 90% of the world’s nuclear stockpiles, according to a review released by the ACA in July.
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In response to Fox News Digital’s questions on Wednesday, the White House pointed to comments made by Savett, who said, "We have repeatedly voiced concerns about the advancing nuclear arsenals of Russia, PRC [the People’s Republic of China], and the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea]."
"As we have always done, we review our policies and update when necessary to account for emerging geopolitical conditions," he added. "We will continue to focus our efforts on reducing nuclear risk by enhancing deterrence and our preference for resolving differences through arms control diplomacy."
The guidance remains classified, but Congress is expected to receive an unclassified revision of the document before Biden leaves office next year, reported Reuters.
"There is far more continuity than change," Savett said in reference to the March updates.
China on Wednesday responded to the report by The New York Times and said it was "gravely concerned."
"We have no intention to engage in any form of arms race with other countries," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, further criticizing the U.S. strategy of deterrence and accusing Washington of "shirking" its commitment to disarmament.
