To dispel doubts over its defensive defense policy, China is making its military more transparent, and the recent unveiling of China's new ballistic missile submarine was part of that effort. But the Western media reacted by saying that China's ballistic missile submarines are a destabilizing factor in the West Pacific region. It's ironic that China is singled out for criticism for developing ballistic missile submarines while the other nuclear powers are not.

Generally speaking, ballistic missile submarines can be regarded as a destabilizing factor only if they have the potential of triggering a new nuclear arms race or a new round of nuclear proliferation. Apparently, China's ballistic missile submarines will trigger neither.

The primary mission of ballistic missile submarines is nuclear deterrence and they maintain the threat of a second strike. They could also be seen as a stabilizing factor if they are used to replace some nuclear weapon systems with low viability and low reliability (especially if it reduces the nuclear arsenal).