China horror threat: West warned ‘miscalculation’ could lead to ALL OUT ‘nuclear war’
THE WEST could “miscalculate our way into nuclear war” with China as the world enters a “dangerous new age of proliferation”, the UK’s national security chief has warned.
Sir Stephen Lovegrove said that the likelihood of a new Cold War with the eastern communist nation becoming hot was far greater than the previous one, as the strategic safeguards with the Soviet Union are not present with China. The Government’s national security adviser noted: “We should be honest – strategic stability is at risk.”
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Many defence chiefs and world leaders have long been wary of China and its “malign influence”.
There have been fears that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine might embolden Xi Jinping into executing similar offensives. Taiwan, a breakaway nation from China, has long been a potential target.
Comparisons have often been made between tensions with the east-Asian behemoth and the cold war between communist Russia and the West.
But, Sir Stephen suggested, that historical comparison may have its limits – in no small part due to the “pace and scale” with which China was advancing its arsenal.
Speaking to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington yesterday (Wednesday), he said: “During the Cold War, we benefited from a series of negotiations and dialogues that improved our understanding of Soviet doctrine and capabilities, and vice-versa.
“This gave us both a higher level of confidence that we would not miscalculate our way into nuclear war.
“Today, we do not have the same foundations with others who may threaten us in the future – particularly with China.”
Sir Stephen argued that there was now a “much broader range of strategic risks and pathways to escalation”, including new forms of population-levelling weapons and strategic alliances with third countries.
He continued: “These are all exacerbated by Russia’s repeated violations of its treaty commitments, and the pace and scale with which China is expanding its nuclear and conventional arsenals and the disdain it has shown for engaging with any arms control agreements.”
The UK’s national security adviser added: “The Cold War’s two monolithic blocs of the USSR and NATO – though not without alarming bumps – were able to reach a shared understanding of doctrine that is today absent.
“Doctrine is opaque in Moscow and Beijing, let alone Pyongyang or Tehran.
“So the question is how we reset strategic stability for the new era, finding a balance amongst unprecedented complexity so there can be no collapse into uncontrolled conflict.”
The Prophecy Blog 