China has rejected U.S. allegations that it conducted secret nuclear explosive tests, dismissing the claims as “outright lies” and accusing Washington of attempting to justify a possible resumption of its own nuclear testing programme.
The denial came on Monday, February 9th after Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Thomas DiNanno alleged at the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva that China had carried out covert nuclear tests, including one on June 22nd, 2020. DiNanno further claimed Beijing was preparing for additional tests with massive yields.
In a statement, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the accusations were “completely groundless” and condemned what it described as U.S. efforts to fabricate pretexts for restarting nuclear weapons tests. Beijing also urged Washington to
immediately stop its irresponsible actions.
The dispute comes amid growing uncertainty over the future of global arms control. U.S. president Donald Trump said in October that the United States would resume nuclear testing “on an equal basis” with Russia and China, though he did not clarify what type of tests Washington might conduct or when they would begin.
DiNanno’s comments came as he was presenting a new U.S. proposal calling for trilateral arms control talks involving the United States, Russia and China. The initiative aims to establish new limits on nuclear arsenals following the expiration of the New START treaty, the last remaining arms control agreement between Washington and Moscow, which expired last Thursday.
