So far, no nuclear-armed states have made it official policy to strike with strategic conventional capabilities against the nuclear weapons of another nuclear weapon state, although such capabilities are being developed for the declared purpose of neutralizing the WMD capabilities of nuclear proliferators.  The cold war position of only using nuclear weapons against nuclear weapons still seems valid.  However, the US Congress has passed the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which President Obama signed into law on Jan 2nd. It requests a report from the Commander of US Strategic Command by August 15th; to describe the alleged Chinese underground tunnel networks and to review the US capability to “neutralize” such networks with “conventional and nuclear forces.”  It seems to imply that a conventional strike against the Chinese nuclear weapon system is an option.

      For nearly half a century, China’s NFU pledge has served as the cornerstone of its nuclear policy, and any change will require careful review and thorough debate.  It is better not only for China, but also for the rest of the world, for China to uphold its NFU policy, rather than discredit such a commitment.  To alleviate China’s concerns, a constructive approach would be to assure the policy through nuclear policy dialogues, to establish a multilateral NFU agreement among all the nuclear weapon states, and to consider limiting or even prohibiting the use of nuclear weapons in a legally binding international agreement.