Washington - United States intelligence officials accused China yesterday of stealing US nuclear weapons information, including data related to the US's most advanced nuclear warhead and the neutron bomb.
"China obtained by espionage classified US nuclear weapons information that probably accelerated its programme to develop nuclear weapons," said a report compiled by seven intelligence agencies released to Congress and the White House.
China was able to get by a variety of means, including spies, inadvertent leaks from US scientists, and by attending specialised conferences material related to "several" modern nuclear warheads including the Trident II or W-88, the report said.
While it said China did not yet appear to have used the information to modernise its existing strategic weapons stockpile or deploy any new weapons, senior intelligence officials said it was "only a matter of time" before Chinese arms began to look like American ones.
