- CAITLIN TALMADGE is Associate Professor of Security Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. This essay is adapted from “Would China Go Nuclear? Assessing the Risk of Chinese Nuclear Escalation in a Conventional War With the United States,” International Security, Spring 2017.
- More By Caitlin Talmadge
Flash point: a military drill in Hualien, Taiwan, January 2018Tyrone Siu/REUTERSAs China’s power has grown in recent years, so, too, has the risk of war with the United States. Under President Xi Jinping, China has increased its political and economic pressure on Taiwan and built military installations on coral reefs in the South China Sea, fueling Washington’s fears that Chinese expansionism will threaten U.S. allies and influence in the region. U.S. destroyers have transited the Taiwan Strait, to loud protests from Beijing. American policymakers have wondered aloud whether they should send an aircraft carrier through the strait as well. Chinese fighter jets have intercepted U.S.
Copyright © 2024 by the Council on Foreign Relations, Inc.
All rights reserved. To request permission to distribute or reprint this article, please visit ForeignAffairs.com/Permissions.Source URL: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2018-10-15/beijings-nuclear-option