China conducted more ballistic missile tests last year than the rest of the world combined and is on course to possess 1,500 nuclear weapons within the next decade, the Pentagon warns in a new assessment of Beijing's rapidly expanding military posture.
The findings are detailed in a report for Congress to be released publicly in unclassified format Tuesday. It outlines China's broad desires to pursue global dominance but comes as the Chinese Communist Party faces perhaps the most serious internal challenge to its authority in decades, with audacious demonstrations against President Xi Jinping's harsh covid lockdowns having included, in some cities, demands for his ouster.