An analysis is an essential skill that allows discerning false information from accurate data. For instance, this skill was valuable in evaluating the article by Oren Liebermann titled “Pentagon warns China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal” on the CNN website. This article is controversial because Pentagon states that China is expanding its nuclear power to attack Taiwan without factual evidence and confirmation from the Chinese government. The complexity of this controversial writing piece is that it is based on assumptions and reassuring statements that may be inaccurate.
The controversy of this article starts when the author agrees with the Pentagon’s speculations about the purpose of increasing Chinese nuclear weapons. It appears that the two figures on each side of this controversy are Pentagon and China. Although a recent report from China states that the country plans to “double their stockpile of 200 warheads within a decade,” there is no confirmation about invading Taiwan.
The U.S. government claims that the fact that China’s report does not mention hypersonic weapons indicates its plans for Taiwan. On the other hand, Beijing continues to refuse this information, and Chinese officials declare that strengthening its military power is done “to deter foreign intervention.” Both sides present enough facts to support their viewpoints, but they give insufficient evidence to disprove the opponent’s statements.
If the author’s statement is true, the consequences can be another armed conflict and nuclear disaster. However, if this idea is incorrect, it will create unnecessary panic among U.S. citizens and hostility toward China. Since this issue concerns the potential conflict between dominant geopolitical players, it became newsworthy.
In conclusion, this controversy remains unresolved because the presented facts are insufficient to state China’s plans to invade Taiwan. Still, it is hard not to believe that doubling nuclear power is done exclusively for defense, considering that only a few countries possess it.
The sentence that captured my attention in this article was that China wants to attain a certain level of weaponry by its hundredth anniversary. Therefore, I presume that these actions are done to make an impressive military parade to threaten other countries with the fact that China has this power, preventing the development of any conflicts in the future.