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Chinese Views of Strategic Stability: Implications for U.S.-China Relations

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Fu Cong, center, the director general of the Foreign Ministry's arms control department, attends a press conference on nuclear arms control in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022.
Fu Cong, center, the director general of the Foreign Ministry's arms control department, attends a press conference on nuclear arms control in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. 

China’s nuclear buildup and intensifying U.S.-China strategic competition raise concerns about the future of U.S.-China nuclear dynamics. Understanding Chinese views of strategic stability is important for managing those dynamics. For U.S. strategists, strategic stability consists of crisis stability and arms race stability. Chinese writings identify four pillars of strategic stability: nuclear mutual vulnerability, bilateral relations overall, the nuclear taboo, and beliefs about the controllability of nuclear escalation. Chinese strategists see these pillars eroding, in part because of U.S. actions. 

Recommended citation

David C. Logan, "Chinese Views of Strategic Stability: Implications for U.S.-China Relations," International Security, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Fall 2024), pp. 56–96. 

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