Tong Zhao, Ph.D. International Affairs, Science, and Technology 2014, recently published an opinion guest essay in The New York Times. The article is titled “Why is China Building up its Nuclear Arsenal?”

Zhao, a nuclear policy expert based out of Beijing, answers his question by saying that China is increasing its nuclear capacity in pursuit of a recognition of “mutual vulnerability” with the United States. Mutual vulnerability comes when both parties cannot threaten nuclear war without risking their own destruction. He argues that the United States should recognize mutual vulnerability with China similarly to how they did with the USSR during the Cold War, as the risks are too high if they don’t.