Robert P. Kadlec, the U.S. Department of Defense nominee for Assistant Secretary for nuclear deterrence and chemical-biological defense, said on the 4th (local time) that “China’s nuclear buildup has surpassed U.S. expectations.”

In written responses submitted ahead of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee that day, Kadlec said, “We are closely monitoring China’s emergence as a major nuclear-armed state alongside its large-scale conventional force buildup.”

He said, “China’s nuclear forces are a core element of its strategy to become the leading power in the Western Pacific,” adding, “China’s opaque and rapid nuclear buildup requires the United States to think in new ways about how to deter and defeat infringements on our core interests in the Indo-Pacific.”

He continued, “The Department of Defense must maintain a posture that ensures U.S. nuclear forces deter the escalation of nuclear conflict with China and provide the President with a range of credible response options.”

Kadlec also stated, “China, Russia, and North Korea have expanded and modernized their nuclear capabilities,” and, “These improvementsincluding advances in warheads, delivery systems, and command-and-control systemspose an increasingly serious threat to the United States and its allies and partners.”

He went on, “China and Russia are deploying high-performance nuclear forces with ranges that threaten U.S. forces, allies, and other core interests in Europe and Asia,” assessing, “As I understand it, U.S. capabilities in this area have weakened since the end of the Cold War.”

At the hearing, when asked whether President Trump’s directive to resume nuclear testing meant actual explosive nuclear tests, Kadlec said, “If I am confirmed, I will be able to clarify the nature of the instructions transmitted to the Department of Defense,” adding, “I am not privy to the details of the Department’s communications with the President.”

He added, however, “There is a pattern of concern, going back to 2019, as to whether Russia and China are properly complying with the ‘Threshold Test Ban Treaty,’ concluded during the Cold War and entering into force in 1990,” noting, “The crux is whether there is evidence to support the suspicions.”

Kadlec added that such issues had been raised repeatedly in a 2019 State Department report. The treaty he referred to appears to be the partial nuclear test-ban agreement that allowed only underground nuclear tests of 150 kt or less.

In a CBS ‘60 Minutes’ interview on the 2nd, President Trump reiterated his intention to resume U.S. nuclear testing, saying, “Both Russia and China are conducting nuclear tests; they just aren’t making them public.”