As arms agreements fray, China secretly expands its nuclear weapons infrastructure

CNN ^ | April 2, 2026 | Tamara Qiblawi, Thomas Bordeaux, Yong Xiong, Ginluca Mezzofiore

[Twotone]

When three villagers from China’s Sichuan province wrote to local officials in 2022 asking why the government was confiscating their land and evicting them from their homes, they received a terse reply: It was a “state secret.”

That secret, a CNN investigation has found, centered on China’s covert plans to massively expand its nuclear ambitions.

More than three years after the evictions, satellite images show, their village has been flattened and, in its place, new buildings erected to support some of China’s most important nuclear weapons production facilities.

The expansion of the sites in Sichuan province, observed in satellite imagery and a review of dozens of Chinese government documents, supports recent claims by the administration of US President Donald Trump that Beijing has been conducting its most significant nuclear weapon modernization campaign in decades.

Trump is set to visit Beijing on a landmark trip next month where he is expected to try to begin a dialogue about a deal to curb Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s nuclear ambitions. Earlier this year, the latest arms reduction agreement between Russia and the United States – known as New START – expired, with Trump wanting to strike a new and improved deal with Moscow that would also include China.

But the dramatic changes seen at sites in Sichuan suggest that the nuclear weapons development of China’s military, known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), shows little sign of abating.

One of the most substantial additions to the area is an enormous dome, unusually shaped like a Tic Tac, emerging from the banks of the Tongjiang River in less than five years. It appears to continue to be outfitted with equipment, suggesting it may not yet be in use.

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TOPICS: China; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; nuclearweapons

[enumerated]

Well, the secret is blown now… at least for the couple dozen people who watch CNN..

[adorno]

A secret is still a secret, if the people involved still consider it a secret, no matter if the whole world knows about it.

[marktwain]

Notice: the headline tries to make it appear the Chinese would not do this if arms agreements, to which they are not signatories, were in place.

The implication is the arms agreements would be enforceable and would work. The implication is the arms agreements would even work on nations who never signed them.

Just. Like. Magic. Leftist magical thinking.

[Libloather]

[sauropod]

.

[skr]

Secret is apparently a relative term.

[55Ford]

What if Nuclear Weapons is a Fantasy; you know, like when we went to the Moon, Or like when India went to the Moon.

[Seruzawa]

If it is secret how does CNN know about it?

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

as it refurbishes 1950’s jet fighters....emp-proof