The United States has accused Beijing on Friday of conducting a secret nuclear test in 2020. “Today, I can reveal that the U.S. Government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons,” U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva . “The PLA 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. China conducted one such yield producing nuclear test on June 22 of 2020.”
DiNanno does not appear to have provided any evidence to back up the US accusation.
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, Reuters reported. “China notes that the U.S. continues in its statement to hype up the so-called China nuclear threat. China firmly opposes such false narratives,” he said. “It (the U.S.) is the culprit for the aggravation of the arms race.”
