China is entering the nuclear race. “WP”: China is expanding its nuclear test site

China is rapidly expanding its nuclear test site in Lob Nor, which may suggest preparations to resume nuclear tests – writes the Washington Post on Monday. Suspicions regarding Chinese activities at the training ground have already been reported by the US authorities.

The daily writes that, according to experts, the changes visible in satellite photos in Lob Nor in Xinjiang, the site of China's first nuclear test, show the expansion of the installation that has been ongoing since at least 2020. The photos are said to indicate, among others, for the construction of new vertical shafts and underground corridors and associated infrastructure. This is evidenced by the large amounts of excavated earth on the surface and the presence of heavy vehicles. The work is expected to continue, and its nature indicates China is preparing to return to large-scale nuclear tests.

“Together, this represents a significant expansion of infrastructure and a significant expansion of overall testing capacity at Lop Nur over the last five years,” Renny Babiarz, author of the Lob Nor analysis at AllSource Analysis, told the newspaper.

The deep shafts are intended to be used for testing larger nuclear explosions, while the horizontal corridors are intended for lower-power explosions. U.S. authorities have repeatedly suggested that China may conduct secret, low-yield nuclear tests that are harder to detect. In October, US President Donald Trump accused China and Russia of conducting such tests and announced similar actions – contrary to the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) signed but not ratified by these countries. These claims were supported by CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Beijing denies these accusations.

According to experts quoted by “WP”, China has a special incentive to conduct nuclear tests because it has less data from previous experiments than the USA and Russia. According to Pentagon estimates, China has the third largest nuclear arsenal – approximately 600 warheads, and is rapidly expanding its stockpiles. By 2030, their number is expected to increase to one thousand. According to a report by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United States has 3.7 thousand warheads, and Russia – 4.3 thousand, of which 1.7 thousand are deployed. Contrary to these numbers, President Trump maintained in his statements that the US has the largest arsenal, and China will equal America and Russia by 2030.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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