§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they welcome the development (announced by United States officials) of an Invulnerable Second Strike Nuclear Capability by China as a contribution to a stable balance of Mutual Assured Destruction among the world's major nuclear powers. [HL2852]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)All the Nuclear Weapons States—including China—are committed to the determined pursuit of systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the ultimate goal of eliminating those weapons. We continue to press for further progress towards balanced and verifiable reductions, as we made clear in last year's Strategic Defence Review.