China’s Evolving Nuclear Policy

In this talk, Tong Zhao, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, will explore the drivers behind China’s recent nuclear policy changes amidst its threefold arsenal expansion since 2019. Challenging conventional analyses that prioritize military-technical factors, Zhao highlights the political significance attributed to nuclear weapons by Chinese leadership and the internal bureaucratic transformations shaping these developments. The discussion will examine the security implications for the United States and propose measures to address the challenges posed by China’s nuclear modernization.

Tong Zhao is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, working for both the Nuclear Policy Program and Carnegie China. Formerly based in Beijing, he now conducts research in Washington on strategic security issues, such as nuclear weapons policy, deterrence, arms control, nonproliferation, missile defense, hypersonic weapons, regional security issues in Asia Pacific, and China’s security and foreign policy.