Responding to the news that US President Joe Biden approved a nuclear plan focusing on threats from China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called on the US to fulfill its responsibility for nuclear disarmament and significantly reduce its nuclear material.

The ministry also said China is not engaged in an arms race with any country, and expressed concern about the reports. “The United States seems to be trying to exaggerate China’s nuclear threat and find excuses to gain strategic benefits,”  the Chinese Foreign Ministry added, according to Reuters. 

According to the New York Times, US President Joe Biden green-lighted a top-secret strategic nuclear plan in March this year, reshaping Washington’s strategy for the first time to focus on China’s expansion of its nuclear arsenal.

The plan is also said to prepare the US for possible nuclear challenges from China, Russia and North Korea.

The NYT said Washington has never announced that Mr. Biden has approved the new proposal called “Nuclear Use Guidelines”, but a notice of this document is expected to be sent to the US Congress before Mr. Biden leaves the White House in January 2025.

However, the US-based Arms Control Association said it understood that Washington’s nuclear weapons strategy and policy remained the same as described in the Biden administration’s 2022 “Nuclear Posture Review” and that there was no shift from Russia to China.

Asked about the US newspaper’s report, White House spokesman Sean Savett said: “This administration, like the four previous administrations, has issued a Nuclear Posture Review and Nuclear Weapons Deployment Planning Guidance.”

“While the specific content is classified, its existence is not a secret. The guidance issued earlier this year was not in response to any entity, country or threat,”  he said.