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China’s military buildup has reached what a new congressional report calls a “war footing,” with hundreds of new missile silos and expanding nuclear capabilities that could erode America’s long-standing deterrence edge in the Indo-Pacific.
China has built roughly 350 new intercontinental missile silos and expanded its nuclear warhead stockpile by 20% in the past year, part of a sweeping military expansion that the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says could strain U.S. readiness to counter Chinese aggression.
The commission’s 2025 annual report to Congress says Beijing’s rapid nuclear buildup, combined with new artificial intelligence-driven warfare systems, is transforming the People’s Liberation Army into a force “capable of fighting and winning a war against the United States” — even without matching U.S. nuclear numbers.
According to the report, China has unveiled an AI-powered electronic warfare system capable of detecting and suppressing U.S. radar signals as far as Guam, the Marshall Islands and Alaska, and is now deploying 6G-based platforms across its armed forces.
HIGH STAKES ON THE HIGH SEAS AS US, CHINA TEST LIMITS OF MILITARY POWER
China displays YJ-19 hypersonic anti-ship missiles during a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing, Sept. 3, 2025. (Tingshu Wang/Reuters)
The report says China unveiled a new 6G-based electronic warfare platform in mid-2025, capable of coordinating radar jamming and signal interception across long distances. The system reportedly uses high-speed data links and artificial intelligence to synchronize attacks on U.S. and allied radar networks — a preview of what Beijing calls “intelligentized warfare.”
At a military parade in Beijing this September, China for the first time displayed a full nuclear triad — missiles launchable from land, air and sea.
The commission warns these advances, paired with China’s political crackdown and economic leverage, could allow Beijing to act “quickly and decisively in a crisis,” shortening the time the U.S. and its allies would have to respond to aggression.
CHINA’S ENERGY SIEGE OF TAIWAN COULD CRIPPLE US SUPPLY CHAINS, REPORT WARNS
A nuclear-powered Type 094A Jin-class ballistic missile submarine navigates during a military display by China’s navy in the South China Sea. (Stringer/Reuters)
The commission is urging Congress to require the Pentagon to conduct a full audit of U.S. readiness to defend Taiwan, warning that Washington may no longer meet its legal obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act. The report calls for a classified and unclassified assessment of whether U.S. forces could “resist any resort to force or coercion” by China — even in a scenario where the United States is also facing simultaneous aggression from Russia, Iran or North Korea.
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A war over Taiwan, the commission cautions, could wipe out up to 10% of global GDP — a shock on par with the 2008 financial crisis — and carry a “cataclysmic” risk of nuclear escalation and wider conflict in the Indo-Pacific.
China now holds around 600 nuclear warheads. The Pentagon has assessed China is aiming to own 1,000 by 2030.
The report further warns that China’s economic coercion is compounding the threat, pointing to Beijing’s dominance in foundational semiconductors, rare earth minerals, and printed circuit boards. It says these dependencies could leave the United States “reliant on its rival for the backbone of its modern economy and military.”
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Among 28 recommendations, the commission calls for Congress to bar Chinese-made components from U.S. power grids, create a unified economic statecraft agency to enforce export controls, and reaffirm diplomatic backing for Taiwan — including its partnership with the Vatican, one of Taiwan’s few remaining formal allies that Beijing has sought to isolate through church diplomacy.
“China’s rapid military and economic mobilization shortens U.S. warning timelines,” the report concludes, warning that without a coordinated response, America’s deterrence posture “risks falling short” against Beijing’s expanding capabilities.
