China Is Stockpiling Nuclear Warheads at Record Speed to Challenge US

Welcome to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story. China's nuclear stockpile is hitting 600 warheads. The fastest build-up among nuclear powers in recent years is the world facing a new era of nuclear tension. Israel ramping up strikes on Iran's nuclear and missile sites escalating regional tensions. As the U.S. backs Israel and monitors China's mediation efforts, concerns are growing over Iran's ties to Beijing. Remember, Iran is the pitbull of China. China is funding Iran. A cargo flight from China to Luxembourg in Western Europe took a strange detour, flying unusually close to Iranian airspace. What's behind the off-course move? We take a closer look. And President Trump is criticizing Russia's exclusion from the G7. This as the group's leaders meet in Canada to tackle conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. With wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, concerns are growing over whether China and Taiwan could be next, and just how much firepower Beijing is packing. China is now believed to have at least 600 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, and experts warn it could soon rival the U.S. or Russia in long-range missile capabilities. That's according to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, released on Monday. The report says China's nuclear arsenal is growing faster than any other countries, adding about 100 warheads a year since 2023. This rapid buildup has pushed Beijing's stockpile to at least 600 warheads by early 2025, and is expected to keep growing. Globally, there are roughly 12,000 nuclear warheads, with the U.S. and Russia controlling about 90 percent of them. While China's stockpile is still smaller, the speed of its expansion is raising alarms. Another major concern is that the New START treaty between the U.S. and Russia is set to expire in early 2026. It's the last remaining nuclear arms agreement between major nuclear powers. Signed in 2010, the treaty limits how many nuclear warheads the U.S. and Russia can deploy. But with no replacement in sight, experts fear both countries could increase their forces once the deal expires. And with advances in A.I. and cyber warfare, a new nuclear arms race could be far more dangerous than ever before. Earlier this year, President Trump said any future arms control deal should also include China's nuclear arsenal. It's a stance he's been pushing for since his first term in 2019. Now we turn to China's ties with another nuclear power, Iran. Israel's surprise military campaign against Iran has reshaped the Middle East. What began with an airstrike on June 13th has expanded into a full-scale operation targeting Iran's nuclear and missile programs. Meanwhile, the relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and Iran is drawing fresh scrutiny. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told Fox News that the U.S. and its citizens face a pivotal moment, one that could decide whether Iran is permanently eliminated as a nuclear threat. Just more. Remember, Iran is the pitbull of China. China is funding Iran. They want a nuclear Iran so that Iran can continue supplying them with oil, which is all of Iranian oil goes to China. And as soon as Iran gets a bomb, God forbid, they can threaten the entire Gulf that they have to supply electricity and oil to China and Russia. Spillman says the opportunity to completely shut down Iran's nuclear program won't come again. Israel claims it has severely damaged some of Iran's nuclear facilities, but not the Fordow fuel enrichment plant where much of Iran's uranium enrichment takes place. Uranium enrichment is a key process in producing fuel for nuclear reactors. Israel says it would need a bunker busting bombs from the U.S. to destroy the plant. The nuclear bunker is built deeply into a mountain. A Chinese-linked cargo flight is raising eyebrows. A Cargolux Airlines jet en route from China to Luxembourg appeared to veer toward Iranian airspace before disappearing from public radar over Turkmenistan. That's according to flight tracking app Flight Radar 24. Let's take a closer look. Move fueling speculation about whether China is quietly flying supplies or equipment to The flight made a stop in Turkmenistan before reaching Europe. Cargolux is partly owned by a Chinese firm. It denies the plane ever entered Iranian airspace, claiming faulty public tracking data. The incident comes amid escalating tensions with Israel targeting Iranian military and nuclear sites in Iran, firing missiles in return. Analysts warn of growing China-Iran coordination as part of a broader anti-Western alliance. Former Democratic Vice President candidate Tim Walz recently suggested that China may have what he called the moral authority to help de-escalate the Israel-Iran conflict. The comments sparked debate given China's significant trade relationship with Iran. What role does China actually play in this conflict? To discuss this, Entity's Don Ma spoke with Gregory Copley, President of the International Strategic Studies Association. I want to point this out to you as well, and maybe I can get your comments. Former Democratic presidential candidate Tim Walz remarked last week that China may have the moral authority to de-escalate the Israel-Iran conflict. I mean, this obviously raised some eyebrows. China is a key trading partner to the Iranian regime. How does China fit into this conflict? And what might the Chinese Communist Party want to see happen? Well, Tim Walz is very pro-Beijing, so I wouldn't listen to his arguments on this at all. The reality is that China has lost all credibility in the Middle East, Persian Gulf, and inside Iran. The Iranian CCP regime promised hundreds of billions of dollars in trade and investment some years ago and has not lived up to that. And the Iranian government itself has called the Beijing out on this matter. Beijing has no real authority in this dispute. The Russian government, on the other hand, is very close to the clerics and could offer some alternatives. And it's probable, in fact, that some of the clerical government's personnel and families have already left for Russia. So if you're counting on someone, I would count on the However, they are trying to preserve their long-term interest in Iran, which is to have access through Iran to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. So the question is, how does the West use Russia to broker a reasonable peace, which is not hostile to Russia at the same time? And to dive deeper into China and Iran, we spoke with retired U.S. Army Colonel John Mills. He's a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy. On that China angle, the Wall Street Journal reported this month that China has been supplying Iran with thousands of tons of ballistic missile components. What is China's stake in this conflict? Well, Iran is their major proxy. We now have an international constellation that's on the China side of the showdown to take down the American-led system. This is the no-limits agreement that has grown since fall of 2021 that was announced between Russia and China. And so you have Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, but you also have to include South Africa and Pakistan. And so that is the constellation of the major players that are on China's side of the ledger in the worldwide showdown. There is a world on fire in progress. I would assert we essentially are already in World War III. So it just remains to be seen. I don't think China wants Iran to fall. That would be a huge loss because Iran's job is to essentially carry out the mayhem in the Middle East theater of operations in the world on fire. They don't want them to collapse. So they have, again, a very large footprint gets underreported for what's going on inside of Iran by China. The group of seven leaders just met in Canada. The world's seven most influential economies are now seeking a united approach to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. But the group faces challenges. President Donald Trump said Monday that removing Russia from what was once the group of eight over a decade ago was a mistake. He also weighed in on China. Let's dive in. U.S. President Donald Trump set up the G7 summit in Canada on Monday that removing Russia from the former group of eight over a decade ago was a mistake. Putin speaks to me. He doesn't speak to anybody else. He doesn't want to talk because he was very insulted when he got thrown out of the G8, as I would be, as you would be, as anybody would be. He was very insulted. Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Canada's resort area of Kananaskis, Trump said the former group of eight had been wrong to kick out Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea. G7 leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S., along with the European Union, are convening in the area until Tuesday. The once tight-knit group has struggled to find unity over conflicts, as Trump overtly expresses support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and has imposed tariffs on many of the countries present. Trump didn't directly address whether Russia should be let back into the G7. However, he said he wouldn't mind if China joined. The head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, says President Donald Trump is right about broken trade rules related to China. At Monday's G7 summit, von der Leyen agreed with President Trump that China's trade practices pose a serious problem. She said Beijing is unwilling to play by the rules of the international system, and that behavior has distorted global markets. Von der Leyen also pointed out that the current global trading system isn't working the way it should. It lacks clear rules and enforcement. She added that the biggest challenge began back in 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization. That move helped Beijing rise as a global manufacturing powerhouse and build the vast wealth it's now using to challenge the West on nearly every front. Coming up, protests in Los Angeles are heating up. But who is fanning the flames? We dig into how the Chinese Communist Party may be fueling division with insights from a retired senior intelligence officer. It was interesting that they actually hired people in the U.S. to host protests and ask them to make it look like there were fights and arguments and people screaming and yelling and take photos of them. And then those were put forth throughout Asia by China. Taiwan teaming up with a drone software firm behind Ukraine's defense, aiming to boost its military edge against Beijing's aggression. And think your VPN protects your privacy. Think again. Some apps are secretly sending user data to servers in China, yet they remain available on Google and Apple app stores. That and more in just a minute here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer with recent unrest in LA dominating the airwaves. How are bad actors capitalizing on it to fuel discontent? What's the CCP's history of using social unrest to further divide a nation? And how does the regime target local communities as part of its broader espionage and influence campaign? To explore these questions, we sat down with a retired senior intelligence officer, Nicholas Eftymiadis. He's also the author of Chinese Espionage Operations and Tactics. Nick Eftymiadis, thank you so much for joining us and in person. Thank you very much for having me. Now, you know, we have the current LA riots happening that are supposedly spreading to the rest of the nation, especially with the military parade on June 14th. Now, when we look at the history of the Chinese Communist Party and their internet firewall, you also see in terms of the censors, they actually have a lot of their internet trolls known as the 50 Cent Army or Little Pinks. They kind of help exacerbate certain civil discourse or topics that they know are divisive, especially ahead of elections. You see that with, say, abortion topics, gun rights, all these different things. Have you seen cases that directly talk about that? Kind of like sowing division and discord? There's no question they're directly cases. We've seen cases in nonprofits and funding, even elements of Black Lives Matter. We saw a case not long ago, Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm, actually picked this up that a company, a Chinese company, who was working on behalf of the United Front Work Department, was hiring reporters, you know, as gigs, they would call it, reporters in the United States to report on and to host protests, racial protests in particular. So it was interesting that they actually hired people in the U.S. to host protests and ask them to make it look like there were fights and arguments and people screaming and yelling and take photos of them. And then those were put forth throughout Asia by China. So we actually see them having a very direct hand in sponsoring protests in the United States directly, as well as putting money into organizations that are already protesting. I want to dig into, again, the whole-of-society approach that Communist China uses, because there's one part in your book where you mention the practice of covert influence is consistent with CCP tactics of encircling an enemy's leadership with individuals from businesses, think tanks, academia, and civic organizations. The strategy of covertly encircling an enemy stems from the Warring States period and is actively studied and employed by senior PLA officers and the CCP. And you mentioned, you know, there's that famous or infamous case of fang fang. Talk to us about how that's an example of this. Yeah, so the Chinese Ministry of State Security has a term, qian di yu, which is bottom sinking fish. It's kind of a literal translation, a fish on the bottom of the ocean. And for them, it's a long-term asset that they place inside a country, which works long-term to gain increasing levels of access, works at local levels to work against people who will ideally raise up international levels and provide significant advantage for the PRC. So fang fang was one such case where she had relationships with several U.S. politicians, was in touch with, following, and communicating with about 41 of them online. Congressman Swalwell being one that she was, you know, very, very frequently with and supporting. She had worked for the, not worked for, she was studying at the University of California East Bay and was head of the Chinese Students Association there and Pacific Islanders Association. And what she did is infiltrate the American political apparatus, members of Congress, by working with and getting Chinese students and the local population to work for in support of specific politicians, all with the expectation that they would run and grow. Now, the reason we know that is because she was identified meeting with Ministry of State Security officers. So she was meeting and the FBI picked up on that and said, okay, something's wrong. And then when they went and briefed Congressman Swalwell and gave what they call a defensive security briefing, saying, hey, this person is in contact with the Ministry of State Security and we've already caught her with many U.S. politicians, yourself included. So once they made that declaration, she fled the country and, you know, he broke off contact and she fled the country. But, you know, from China's perspective, it's a small investment they make. I mean, Swalwell ran for Congress. What had happened if, you know, if she had this firm, you know, supportive relationship of his campaign and his work and his office and getting people placed in the office, what would have happened if he had won the presidency? So this is the type of thing that China, and we've seen this in mass. It's not just one, it's not just two, it's hundreds or thousands of cases like this. Well, Nick Efimianas, as always, thank you so much for your time. As always, thank you very much for having me. Taiwan is sealing a partnership with a U.S.-German drone software company, the same one helping Ukraine on the battlefield. Let's dive in. I am deeply grateful, particularly to the five foreign vendors who participated in today's activity. I believe that you may soon face sanctions from China. However, do not be afraid, for you have chosen to stand with the values of freedom and democracy. What we're bringing to the table has been combat proven in Ukraine to deter aggression and destroy tanks, naval assets, other really expensive equipment. So by building a large autonomous fleet, Taiwan can deter China, and our software is a very important piece of that. Auterion said it agreed to a strategic partnership with Taiwan's defense ministry's research and development arm. The deal involves uncrewed systems and drone swarming software. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Taiwan has been studying how Ukraine has deployed drones. It has looked at drones in the air and at sea that have successfully offset Russia's numerical advantage on the battlefield. Taiwan hopes to create a similar advantage against the Chinese communist regime. VPN apps are supposed to protect your privacy, but some may be doing just the opposite. A new report finds that several popular apps could be sending users' data straight to China. Many of these apps are still available for download on both Google and Apple app stores. Let's take a closer look. The Tech Transparency Project found that 20 of the top VPN or virtual private network apps listed on the app stores as free are actually linked to China and even linked to a Chinese company under US sanctions. VPNs are online privacy protection tools, but Chinese companies are required to hand over data to Chinese authorities when requested and without obtaining warrants. The report first came out in April. A follow-up published yesterday says Apple removed three of the problematic apps, but the others are still available. Google has not removed any. NBC News contacted developers for the 17 remaining apps. It says only two claimed not to have links to China. And for those two, documents nonetheless indicate they are Chinese-linked entities. Japan and the Philippines are holding joint naval drills west of Luzon, the northern Philippine island. In response, China is launching its own sea and air patrols in the region, highlighting its continued military activity and rising tensions in the South China Sea. The Philippines and Japan are stepping up defense cooperation amid growing tensions with China. The two conducted a joint maritime exercise over the weekend. The Philippine military chief called the exercise a commitment to, quote, peace, stability and a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. The joint drill follows the Philippines' new defense pact with Japan, allowing troops from both countries to train on each other's soil, including live-fire drills. But Beijing wasn't staying quiet. On the same day, China launched sea and air patrols in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. Facing near-daily encounters with Chinese forces and militias, the Philippines is seeking more support from its treaty allies, especially the United States. At a Tuesday press briefing, a Philippine Army spokesperson said the arrival of additional typhoon launchers, also called medium-range capability systems, would be very welcome. He added that this move would speed up troop training and strengthen deterrence in the region. That's all for today's China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. If you have any feedback on the show or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at ChinaInFocusNTD.com. We'd love to hear from you. For on-the-clock original news coverage, visit us at NTD.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.