US Accuses China of Secret Nuclear Testing
The United States accused Beijing on Friday of conducting a secret nuclear test in 2020 as it called for a new, broader arms control treaty that would bring in China as well as Russia.
The accusations at a global disarmament conference highlighted serious tension between Washington and Beijing at a pivotal moment in nuclear arms control, a day after the treaty limiting US and Russian missile and warhead deployments expired.
“I can reveal that the US government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons,” US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno told a Disarmament Conference in Geneva.
The Chinese military “sought to conceal testing by obfuscating the nuclear explosions because it recognized these tests violate test ban commitments. China has used ‘decoupling’, a method to decrease the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, to hide their activities from the world,” he said.
DiNanno said China had conducted one such “yield-producing test” on June 22, 2020.
China’s ambassador on disarmament, Shen Jian, did not directly address DiNanno’s charge but said Beijing had always acted prudently and responsibly on nuclear issues.
“China notes that the US continues in its statement to hype up the so-called China nuclear threat. China firmly opposes such false narratives,” he said.
“It (the US) is the culprit for the aggravation of the arms race.”
Diplomats at the conference said the US allegations were new and concerning. China, like the US, has signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans explosive nuclear tests. Russia signed and ratified it, but withdrew its ratification in 2023.
