Why China’s nuclear arsenal is under fire as US-Russia pact falls apart
US accusations about secret Chinese nuclear tests surface amid arms race anxieties, but Beijing says concerns over its weapons are all hype
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), the global body tasked with detecting nuclear explosions, said its monitoring system “did not detect any event consistent with the characteristics of a nuclear weapon test explosion” at the time of the alleged Chinese test.
Robert Floyd, the body’s executive secretary, said in a statement the same day that more detailed analyses supported the CTBTO’s assessment.
The United States on Friday accused China of failing to disclose a 2020 nuclear test, an act a US official said violated an understanding involving a 1996 test ban treaty. Although both countries signed the pact, neither has ratified it.
The timing of the US accusation highlights the tensions over a collapsing global arms control framework and anxieties over the scale of Beijing’s nuclear capabilities.