All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. The prediction, in a classified report known as a National Intelligence Estimate, is part of a broader assessment of how foreign countries might respond to a U.S. decision to go ahead with a national missile defense. It will be for Clinton to judge whether a faster Chinese nuclear arms buildup is an acceptable price to pay for a national missile defense that critics say is unnecessary in the short term and unworkable.
China is among the few nations capable of a nuclear strike on the United States.
China and Russia are strongly opposed to the U.S. plan, arguing that it would undercut the deterrent value of their nuclear arsenals, violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and undermine global stability. Many of the United States' European allies also question the wisdom of a U.S. national missile defense. Clinton and his national security aides have tried, with little apparent success, to convince China's leaders that a U.S. national missile defense would not be directed against China's nuclear missile capability. Rest of article at above link. Reagan did it anyway and the Soviets tried to keep up.