The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review

choi

(1)
(a) Jesse Johnson, Pentagon Mistakenly Labels Taiwan as Part of China in Key Nuclear Policy Document. Japan Times, Feb 4, 2018.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/new ... ar-policy-document/

My comment:
(i) Nuclear Posture Review (NPR)
(A) "The Nuclear Posture Review is a legislatively-mandated review that establishes U.S. nuclear policy, strategy, capabilities and force posture for the next five to ten years." www.defense.gov
(B) history: The first NPR was completed in 1994; the second 2001 (en.wikipedia is wrong to say 2002); Congress mandated it in 2008; the third in 2010; and the fourth 2018.
(ii) Reading this report alone will not give you the bigger picture that in fact Japan Times prompted the change. See next (there is no need to read the rest, which repeats the history of US-China-Taiwan relations.
(iii) The NPR remains in the home page of www.defense.gov. After the revision, the only difference is that now PRC map does not contain Taiwan (before and after, there has been no Hainan island/province).
(b) Carlos Ballesteros, Pentagon Takes Down Nuclear Report After Labelling Taiwan as Part of China. Newsweek, Feb 4, 2018
www.newsweek.com/pentagon-taiwan ... apons-report-799089

The first five paragraphs:

"The Defense Department was forced to issue a correction of its Nuclear Posture Review after mistakenly labeling Taiwan as part of mainland China in the report.

"When asked by The Japan Times on Saturday why the islands of Taiwan were colored in with the Chinese flag in some pages of the Nuclear Posture Review, the Pentagon admitted it had made a mistake and took down the report for several hours.

" 'There was an error printed in the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review,' a Pentagon spokesperson told the Times late Saturday.

"The Pentagon went on to say that the error was not illustrative of a shift in U.S. foreign policy.

" 'US policy toward Taiwan has remained consistent throughout seven presidential administrations, and is based on the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, the three joint US-China communiques, and the Six Assurances,' the Pentagon spokesperson told the Times.


(2) 国防部新闻发言人任国强就美公布《核态势审议报告》发表谈话. 国防部网, Feb 4, 2018
http://www.mod.gov.cn/info/2018-02/04/content_4804132.htm
("北京时间2月3日，美国国防部发布《核态势审议报告》，妄加揣测中国发展意图，渲染中国核力量威胁，中方对此表示坚决反对。 * * * 我们希望美方摒弃冷战思维")