BREAKING US accuses China of conducting secret nuclear tests and trying to cover up explosions 'to hide its activities from the world'
The United States on Friday accused China of conducting at least one secret nuclear test in 2020 and called for a new, broader nuclear arms control treaty that would include both Beijing and Moscow.
“I can reveal that the US government knows that China has conducted explosive nuclear tests, including preparations for tests with predetermined yields in the order of hundreds of tons,” Thomas DiNanno, the US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
The Chinese military “tried to hide the tests by masking nuclear explosions because it recognized that these tests violated test-ban commitments. China used decoupling, a method of reducing the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, to hide its activities from the world,” he said.
DiNanno said China conducted such a test on June 22, 2020.
The accusations, made at a global disarmament conference, highlight serious tensions between Washington and Beijing at a crucial time for nuclear arms control, a day after the treaty limiting the deployment of missiles and nuclear warheads by the US and Russia expired.
China's first reaction to the US accusations
Shen Jian, China's ambassador for disarmament, did not directly address DiNanno's allegations, but said Beijing had always acted cautiously and responsibly on nuclear matters.
“China notes that the US continues to amplify the so-called Chinese nuclear threat in its statements. China strongly opposes these false narratives,” he said.
“(The US) is responsible for worsening the arms race,” the Chinese diplomat added.
Diplomats attending the conference said the US accusations were new and troubling.
Global nuclear arms control is at a critical juncture
The 2010 New START treaty, which expired on Thursday, left Russia and the United States, for the first time in more than half a century, without any legally binding constraints on the deployment of strategic missiles and nuclear warheads.
US President Donald Trump wants to replace it with a new deal that also includes China, which is rapidly expanding its own arsenal.
DiNanno told the Geneva conference: “Today, the United States faces threats from multiple nuclear powers. In short, a bilateral treaty with a single nuclear power is simply inadequate in 2026 and beyond.”
He reiterated US estimates that China will have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.
But Shen, the Chinese delegate, reiterated that his country would not participate, at this stage, in new negotiations with Moscow and Washington. Beijing has previously pointed out that it has only a fraction of their number of warheads – around 600, compared to around 4,000 each for Russia and the US.
“In this new era, we hope the US will abandon Cold War thinking … and embrace common and cooperative security,” Shen said.
The expiration of the New START treaty leaves a vacuum in arms control
The expiration of New START leaves a vacuum in arms control for the first time since 1972. Since the most tense days of the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union threatened each other with “mutually assured destruction” in the event of a nuclear war, Moscow and Washington have viewed arms limitation treaties as a way to prevent either a fatal misunderstanding or an economically ruinous arms race.
If nothing replaces New START, security analysts anticipate a more dangerous world with a greater risk of miscalculation. Forced to make the most pessimistic assumptions about each other's intentions, the US and Russia would have an incentive to increase their arsenals, especially as China tries to catch up.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that Russia would prefer dialogue with the United States after New START, but is prepared for any scenario.
The Kremlin said both Russia and the United States recognize the need to quickly launch nuclear arms control talks. He stated that the two sides, during this week's talks in Abu Dhabi, reached an agreement in principle that they would act responsibly.
Russia argues that Britain and France, the only two NATO countries besides the US with nuclear weapons, should also be included in the negotiations – something rejected by London and Paris.
Misunderstandings in the nuclear club
Britain told the Geneva forum that it was time for a new era of nuclear arms control that would bring China, Russia and the US to the negotiating table, adding that it shared US concerns about the rapid expansion of China's nuclear arsenal. France has said an agreement between the states with the largest nuclear arsenals is essential at a time of unprecedented loosening of nuclear norms.
Arms control agreements are extremely complex to negotiate, and the international environment has changed significantly since New START was signed in 2010. Russia is developing so-called “exotic” new systems, including the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Poseidon nuclear torpedo, while Trump has promised to build a space-based missile defense system, dubbed the “Golden Dome.”
Security analysts say any new nuclear deal is likely to require years of negotiations, leaving a vacuum in arms control at a time of heightened international tension amid conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and other flashpoints.
Some believe that these tensions, as well as the fact that Russia and the US have so far failed to reach an agreement or even discuss a new treaty, could intensify debate in countries such as Japan, South Korea and Poland over whether to try to join the nuclear club.
