China has firmly rejected accusations from the United States that it carried out covert nuclear explosive tests, dismissing the claims as false and accusing Washington of using them to justify restarting its own nuclear weapons testing programme.
The denial came on Monday after the US raised the allegations at the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. Speaking on Friday, Thomas DiNanno, the US under secretary of state for arms control, alleged that China had conducted secret nuclear tests, including one on 22 June 2020, and was preparing for further tests involving large explosive yields.
In response, China’s foreign ministry strongly pushed back. “The US allegations are completely groundless and are outright lies. China firmly opposes the US attempt to fabricate excuses for its own restarting of nuclear tests,” the ministry said in a statement to AFP on Monday. It also called on Washington to “immediately stop its irresponsible actions”.
US President Donald Trump had previously said in October that the United States would resume nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” with Russia and China, though he did not specify the nature or scope of the tests being considered.
DiNanno’s remarks were made as he unveiled a new US proposal for trilateral talks with Russia and China aimed at setting fresh limits on nuclear arsenals. The proposal follows the expiration of New START, the final remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow which ended last Thursday.
China, however, has already ruled out joining such disarmament negotiations “at this stage”, maintaining its long-held position on the issue.
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