The fourth China’s Grand Strategy lecture came with the arrival of President Donald Trump to Beijing amid tensions among North Korea’s recent nuclear tests. So who better than Professor Wu Riqiang to to give his lecture on ‘China’s Nuclear Strategy’? Professor Wu is clearly well read in the field of nuclear strategy and not a shy critic of current publications in the area.

An entry point to the lecture was the guessing game to the popular question of ‘how many nuclear weapons does China have?’ A question that scholars can only estimate based on how much Plutonium and Uranium are being produced in China’s Soviet style factories. This however is underpinned by Professor Wu’s thorough video footage example displaying that during peace times the nuclear facilities are de-alerted because the warheads are separated and stored away. Professor Wu notes that this is highly indicative of China’s nuclear philosophy: Firstly, nuclear war is not considered likely, and secondly, the purpose of the nuclear facilities are counter coercive. In short, they aren’t pointing at anyone. Professor Wu went on to illustrate the ‘No First Use’ policy that has defined China’s overall nuclear policy – China is committed to not starting anything.

Throughout his lecture, Professor Wu regularly opened to the floor to discussion, where the topic of China’s retaliation approach received the greatest participation. Professor Wu answered skilfully and in a way that encouraged his audience to push conclusions and opinions themselves. Professor Wu then ended on a note of hope with his argument that ‘First Strike Uncertainty’ is a powerful repellent for nuclear action – the doubt in the back of the mind that nuclear action cannot be successful with its first strike.

The Contemporary China Studies program‘s students greatly appreciate Professor Wu’s sharing of his experience through such an insightful lecture.