Reuters: Beijing to boost nuclear defences

[Dao Van <daotb@yahoo.com>]

OCT 25 1999

Beijing to boost nuclear defences

BEIJING -- China will earmark 80 billion yuan (S$14.9 billion) to boost
its second-strike capabilities in response to a nuclear attack, the
Digest Weekly newspaper said yesterday. 

General Zhang Wannian announced that the Central Committee of the
Communist Party and the State Council, or Cabinet, had approved a
programme to "upgrade the capability of the armed forces' defence and
counter-attack system", the weekly reported. 

The programme by the Defence Ministry calls for "making a vigorous
counter-attack once hegemonists and their military alliance use nuclear
weapons to make a surprise attack on China", Gen Zhang was quoted as
saying, in apparent reference to the United States. 

China has accused the US of harbouring hegemonistic ambitions. 

The programme included the miniaturisation of nuclear warheads and the
development of missiles capable of carrying more than one warhead and
hitting multiple targets, military analysts said. 
--
Reuters



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