CNN [reported](https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/21/politics/china-nuclear-arsenal-new-technology on Feb. 21 that U.S. intelligence sources are making additional claims about the covert nuclear test they say China conducted in June 2020. The test, they add, was part of a Chinese effort to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons. “The U.S. assessment of China’s intention to radically advance its nuclear weapons is fueling debate inside the intelligence community and beyond over whether there has been a shift in Beijing’s thinking on nuclear strategy, “ the sources said. The investment in its nuclear arsenal is pushing China closer to peer status with Russia and the US and could yield technical capabilities neither of the two dominant nuclear powers currently possess.”
China also appears to be developing low-yield, tactical nuclear weapons—something the country has never previously produced—that could be deployed against targets closer to home, including in scenarios where Beijing responds to a potential US defense of Taiwan, the sources added.
