China expanding nuclear arsenal much faster than predicted, US report says

Pentagon report also says Beijing is intensifying pressure on neighbours to push back on US efforts to contain it

A Pentagon report on China's military power says Beijing is exceeding previous projections of how quickly it is building up its nuclear weapons arsenal and is almost certainly" learning lessons from Russia's war in Ukraine about what a conflict over Taiwan might look like.

The report released on Thursday also warns that China may be pursuing a new intercontinental missile system using conventional arms that, if fielded, would allow Beijing to threaten conventional strikes against targets in the continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska."