China’s Biological Warfare Programme: An Integrative Study with Special Reference to Biological Weapons Capabilities

This study attempts to profile China’s biological warfare programme (BWP), with special reference to biological weapons (BW) capabilities that exist in facilities affiliated with the defence establishment and the military. For that purpose, a wide variety of facilities affiliated with the defence establishment and with the military are reviewed and profiled. The outcome of that analysis points at 12 facilities affiliated with the defence establishment, plus 30 facilities affiliated with the PLA, that are involved in research, development, production, testing or storage of BW. This huge alignment might be regarded as superfluous, ostensibly; yet, considering the various factors discussed in the present study, the overall derived picture of the Chinese BW-related alignment is not at all surprising. The chances that an outstanding state like China would ignore new avenues of BW designing and deployment are a priori slim, if any. China, in all likelihood, is and will persist as a paramount BW possessor.