Why does China only have 180 strategic nukes? According to Jeffery Lewis's book on the subject, The Minimum Means of Reprisal, the Chinese believe that deterrence isn't found in numbers:

"Among the five nations authorized under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to possess nuclear weapons, China has the smallest nuclear force and maintains the most restrained nuclear posture. In The Minimum Means of Reprisal, Jeffrey Lewis examines patterns in Chinese defense investments, strategic force deployments, and arms control behavior to develop an alternative assessment of China's nuclear forces.

The Minimum Means of Reprisal finds that China's nuclear deployment and arms control patterns stem from the belief that deterrence is relatively unaffected by changes in the size, configuration, and readiness of nuclear forces. As a result, Lewis argues, Chinese policy has tended to sacrifice offensive capability in favor of greater political control and lower economic costs."

For those too cheap to buy the book- I'll loan you my copy if you send me BBQ sauce. My address is:

Evan Tachovsky
Open Society Institute-Assistance Foundation
Hasan Aliyev str. 117 a
Genclik, Baku, AZ1110