- China conducted secret nuclear tests using decoupling to evade seismic monitoring in 2020
- The test occurred shortly after the deadly Galwan clash between India and China in June 2020
- The US calls for new trilateral nuclear talks with Russia and China to address modern threats
China conducted secret nuclear explosive tests using a method to decrease the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, US Under Secretary of State Thomas G DiNanno said.
China conducted one such yield producing nuclear test on June 22, 2020, DiNanno said.
This would have been just a week after the Galwan face-off happened, when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in action while defending the nation. Over 30 Chinese soldiers were killed, according to intelligence reports.
"China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons... China has used decoupling - a method to decrease the effectiveness of seismic monitoring - to hide its activities from the world. China conducted one such yield producing nuclear test on June 22, 2020," the US official said in a post on X.
The US official highlighted the need for a new architecture "that addresses the threats of today, not those of a bygone era."
DiNanno in posts on X explained the build-up to the nuclear explosive test by China, and how dangerous that is for the world.
"New START was signed in 2010 and its limits on warheads and launchers are no longer relevant in 2026 when one nuclear power is expanding its arsenal at a scale and pace not seen in over half a century and another continues to maintain and develop a vast range of nuclear systems unconstrained by New START's terms," the official said, referring to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, designed to significantly reduce deployed strategic nuclear warheads.
"... Almost all of the US deployed nuclear forces were subject to New START while only a fraction of Russia's much larger stockpile was... exactly zero Chinese nuclear weapons were covered by New START," the US official said.
China, no longer constrained by the political-military circumstances of 2010 and the treaty they yielded and in response to the destabilising behavior of these other countries, the United States can now finally take steps to strengthen deterrence on behalf of the American people and our allies, the Under Secretary of State said.
"This confluence of factors - serial Russian violations, growth of worldwide stockpiles, and flaws in New START's design and implementation - gives the United States a clear imperative to call for a new architecture that addresses the threats of today, not those of a bygone era," the official said.
Trump's Allegations
US President Donald Trump had already hinted at similar accusations late last year, but without providing the same level of detail. Trump said on October 31 that Washington would start testing nuclear weapons "on an equal basis" with Moscow and Beijing, but without elaborating or explaining what kind of nuclear testing he wanted to resume.
DiNanno's comments came as he was presenting a new US plan calling for three-way talks with Russia and China to set new limits on nuclear weapons, after the expiration of New START -- the last treaty between top nuclear powers Washington and Moscow, which expired on Thursday.
China has already rejected joining disarmament negotiations "at this stage".
