China on Monday strongly denied allegations by the United States that it had carried out secret nuclear explosive tests, dismissing the claims as “outright lies” and accusing Washington of using them as a pretext to resume its own nuclear testing programme.
The allegations were raised on Friday at the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, where US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Thomas DiNanno claimed that China had conducted covert nuclear tests, including one on June 22, 2020, and was preparing for further high-yield explosions.
Responding to the accusations, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the claims were completely unfounded and politically motivated. “China firmly opposes the US attempt to fabricate excuses for restarting its own nuclear tests,” the statement said, urging Washington to “immediately stop its irresponsible actions.”
The dispute comes amid renewed debate in Washington over nuclear testing. In October, US President Donald Trump said the United States would consider resuming nuclear weapons tests “on an equal basis” with Russia and China, though he did not provide further details on the scope or nature of such tests.
DiNanno’s remarks were made while unveiling a new US proposal for trilateral talks with Russia and China aimed at setting fresh limits on nuclear weapons. This followed the expiration of the New START treaty - the last remaining arms control agreement between the US and Russia - which lapsed last Thursday.
China has already rejected participation in such disarmament negotiations at this stage, reiterating its long-standing position on the issue.
