China expands nuclear interests as Trump preps for White House

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares for his return to the White House, China has been secretly working on a land-based prototype nuclear reactor to power its warships, a move that signals China is moving further toward competing with the U.S. for global dominance.

According to satellite images and Chinese government documents obtained by the Associated Press, China has been rapidly modernizing and morphing its vast naval fleet, the largest in the world, into a “blue water navy” able to operate for long periods of time away from mainland China out in the open ocean.

Tong Zhao, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the AP nuclear-powered warships would elevate China into “the exclusive ranks of first-class naval power,” which currently includes the U.S. and France.

“For China’s leadership, such a development would symbolize national prestige, fueling domestic nationalism and elevating the country’s global image as a leading power,” Zhao said.

The AP further reported that researchers from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California have said the satellite images suggest the nuclear reactor was built in the Leshan mountains, located within the Sichuan province.

“Satellite images show China working on nuclear propulsion for new aircraft carrier” https://t.co/2wtvv3U4xL

— Brian Roemmele (@BrianRoemmele) November 11, 2024

Senior fellow with the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Matthew Funaoile told Business Insider, moving further into nuclear-powered territory is a “goal” for China.

“They know that this is the hallmark of technology for propulsion on aircraft carriers,” Funaoile said.

Furthermore, China currently has three conventionally powered ships – the Liaoning, the Shandong, and the Fujian. According to Funaoile, China has the ability to develop capabilities that outpace its peers. He did, however, note nuclear propulsion development is a complex process, and could take time before all three carriers, along with a fourth currently under construction, are fully nuclear-powered.

Trumps meteoric victory over Vice President Kamala Harris disrupted China’s plans to further its own interests, with some analysts saying the ambitions of China are not just going to wane and disappear. China has been preparing for such an event to unfold and the acceleration in weapons development and manufacturing plays a part of that because it could lead to conflict.

Brandon Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, a geopolitical analyst, and former congressional staffer, wrote in a recent op-ed the real threat to the U.S. is China’s growing fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, something Trump will have to deal with, especially with China’s plans to have at least 21 new nuclear submarines operational by 2030.

“The priority for the Trump administration when it comes to the U.S. Navy must be twofold. First, it must concentrate on building more submarines. Second, as part of that new submarine building program U.S. Navy shipyards must undergo the most radical modernization program since the Second World War,” Weichert wrote.

Weichert noted the U.S. must build up its capabilities quickly, and warned if some radical change doesn’t happen soon, China will surpass the U.S. submarine fleet in both quality and quantity.

“This must happen in an expedited manner. America was once the ‘arsenal of democracy.’ It can be that once again. But it cannot achieve this lofty goal by doing that which has always been done for the last 30 years.”

Newly nominated Secretary of Defense for the Trump administration Pete Hegseth said during an interview the amount of bureaucracy within the U.S. weapons procurement system is slowing down any real progress.

“The Pentagon has a perfect record in all of its war games against China. We lose every time,” Hegseth said, noting the U.S. is lagging behind China by a decade, further pointing out it is important to diversify weapons systems.

“China’s building an army specifically dedicated to defeating the United States of America, that is their strategic outset… If our whole power projection platform is aircraft carriers, and you have the ability to project power that way strategically around the globe…if 15 hypersonic missiles can take out our 10 aircraft carriers in the first 20 minutes of a conflict, what does that look like?”

Meet Pete Hegseth, your new Secretary of Defense:

“The Pentagon runs perfect war game simulations, we lose every time to China… They’re building an army…We have our heads up our asses.”

Pete is an old school American first warrior. pic.twitter.com/KpWXE6dCjQ

— Autism Capital (@AutismCapital) November 13, 2024

Kyle Bass, chief investment officer of Hayman Capital Management LP told Bloomberg Trump’s so-called “China Hawks” are just realists on the threat China’s President Xi Jinping poses to the U.S., which extends past the military, and into the economy as well.

“Xi Jinping has been telling you what he’s going to do since 2017 in every public speech, every public appearance he’s made,”\ Bass said, adding investing in China is a “fool’s errand” and a “horrible idea going forward.”