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China on Monday rejected US accusations that it had carried out covert nuclear explosive tests, describing the claims as baseless and accusing Washington of using them to justify resuming its own testing programme.
Speaking at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Friday, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Thomas DiNanno alleged that China had conducted secret tests, including one on June 22, 2020, and was preparing for further high-yield explosions.
In response, China’s foreign ministry said the accusations were entirely unfounded and amounted to false claims.Â
Beijing said it strongly opposed what it described as US efforts to manufacture pretexts for restarting nuclear tests, and urged Washington to halt what it called irresponsible actions.
“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.”
US President Donald Trump said in October that the United States would resume nuclear testing on what he termed an equal footing with Russia and China, though he did not provide details on the scope or nature of such tests.
DiNanno made the allegations while presenting a new U.S. proposal for trilateral arms-control talks with Russia and China, following the expiration of New START, the last remaining nuclear arms-reduction treaty between Washington and Moscow, which expired last Thursday.
Meanwhile, China has previously ruled out joining disarmament negotiations at this stage.
