Washington: The United States has released new details alleging that China conducted an underground nuclear test in June 2020. China responded that the U.S. fabricated the accusations in an attempt to resume nuclear testing.
According to Thai News Agency, Christopher Yaw, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, stated at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. that seismic monitoring stations in Kazakhstan detected a 2.75 magnitude explosion 720 kilometers away at Lop Nor, a nuclear test site in western China, on June 22, 2020. He noted that the explosion was inconsistent with a mine explosion or earthquake, but rather consistent with a nuclear test explosion.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), which monitors nuclear test explosions, stated that its monitoring station, P23 in Kazakhstan, detected two very small earthquakes 12 seconds apart on that day, which was insufficient to confirm the US allegations.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the United States issued a statement via email saying that allegations of China's nuclear tests were complete fabrications and an attempt by the United States to create a pretext to resume nuclear testing. The US is politically manipulating the situation to further its nuclear dominance and avoid responsibility for denuclearization. China has denied underground nuclear tests since the US first made the accusations at an international conference earlier this month.
U.S. President Donald Trump is pressuring China to join trilateral talks with the U.S. and Russia to find a new deal to replace the New START strategic nuclear arms limitation agreement, which expired on February 5. China, however, has refused, arguing that its nuclear arsenal is relatively small compared to the U.S. and Russia, which possess the most nuclear weapons in the world. The U.S. Department of Defense projects that China will have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, up from its current number of over 600.
China signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996 but has not ratified it. Its last official underground nuclear test was also conducted that year. The United States, which also signed the CTBT but has not ratified it, last conducted an underground nuclear test in 1992.