"If China increases its nuclear weapons, the U.S. will inevitably deploy nuclear weapons."

A U.S. White House official said that if China continues to increase its nuclear arsenal as it is now, it will be inevitable for the U.S. to deploy more nuclear weapons.

White House deputy national security adviser John Finner told a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC that if China increases its nuclear arsenal, there could come a time when it would be essential for the U.S. to make changes in its deployment.

However, he added that he would leave it to the next government to respond to these challenges.

The U.S. Department of Defense predicted in its "2024 China Military Force Report" that China currently has more than 600 nuclear warheads, and that it will have more than 1,000 by 2030.

As of May 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense estimated that China's nuclear warheads had increased by about a hundred in a year by evaluating more than 500 nuclear warheads.

The number of U.S. nuclear weapons is 5,044, overwhelmingly larger than that of China, but as the U.S.-China strategic competition intensifies, it is highly wary of China's nuclear buildup.