The world knows that China is modernizing and drastically expanding the size of its nuclear arsenal. But China has never admitted it—at least until yesterday.
On September 3, 2025, China held a parade to celebrate the 80th anniversary of its victory against Japan. For the past five years, China has been engaging in its largest nuclear buildup ever, more than doubling the size of its arsenal from 300 weapons in 2020 to an estimated 600 nuclear weapons in 2025. The U.S. Department of Defense estimates that China will have over 1,000 nuclear weapons by 2030. China’s Victory Day parade revealed five nuclear capabilities that can all reach the continental United States.
As part of this build-up, China constructed vast intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silo fields in Western China to house nuclear weapons that can range to the continental United States. China has repeatedly denied this, spreading disinformation with bot networks that refuted the existence of these silo fields. These bots claimed that the silo fields were instead wind farms. China’s Victory Parade not only put these nuclear capabilities on full display for the first time but also gave some indications as to where they will fit in China’s strategic arsenal and doctrine.
