With its controversial seizure and return of a U.S. underwater drone, Beijing may have inadvertently thrust into the spotlight one of the main motivations behind its ramped-up moves in the South China Sea: the quest to create a safe-haven for its sea-based nuclear deterrent.

Submarines, in particular ballistic missile subs, have long figured prominently in China’s desire to match the capabilities and prestige of other major nuclear powers. Slowly but surely, experts say, Beijing has made progress on this front, building a formidable program that began very early in the ruling Communist Party’s history.

But securing the credibility of its overall nuclear deterrent has been a challenge.

“In particular, experts worry that growing U.S. missile defense, conventional precision strike, and space-based surveillance capability together allow for sophisticated preemptive attacks that pose a significant threat to China’s land-based nuclear forces,” Tong Zhao, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, wrote in a June report on China’s sea-based nuclear deterrent.

Prompted by these concerns, China has looked to its nuclear missile submarine program — and all that is associated with it — amid an intensifying rivalry with the United States, pulling out all stops in a bid to establish credible nuclear retaliation capabilities.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/12/20/asia-pacific/undersea-arms-race-seizure-u-s-drone-shines-spotlight-chinas-nuclear-submarine-strategy/#.WGrVW7Z96DU