China Fires Back at US claim of “Secret” Nuclear tests

China has pushed back sharply against allegations from the United States that it carried out secret nuclear explosive tests, dismissing the claims as false and politically motivated. 

Beijing said the accusations are being used to justify Washington’s own interest in resuming nuclear weapons testing.

The dispute flared after remarks by Thomas DiNanno, the US under secretary of state for arms control, at the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. DiNanno alleged that China had conducted covert nuclear tests, including one on June 22, 2020, and was preparing for additional tests with very large explosive yields.

China’s foreign ministry rejected the accusation outright, calling it “completely groundless” and “an outright lie.” In a firm response, Beijing said the United States was fabricating claims in order to create a pretext to restart its own nuclear testing programme. 

The ministry urged Washington to immediately halt what it described as irresponsible actions that could undermine global strategic stability.

The row comes against the backdrop of renewed uncertainty in global arms control. The last remaining nuclear arms treaty between Washington and Moscow, New START, expired recently, leaving no binding limits on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals. 

Against that backdrop, DiNanno outlined a new US proposal for three-way talks involving Russia and China to set fresh caps on nuclear weapons.

Beijing has consistently rejected being drawn into such negotiations, arguing that its nuclear arsenal is far smaller than those of the United States and Russia and that it should not be pressured to join talks designed for the two Cold War superpowers. 

Chinese officials have said any multilateral process must be based on equality and mutual trust, conditions they argue are currently absent.

The tension is further complicated by past signals from Washington. Donald Trump previously said the United States could resume nuclear testing on an “equal basis” with Moscow and Beijing, though he did not spell out what form such tests might take. Those remarks have continued to raise concerns among arms control advocates that a decades-old global moratorium on nuclear testing could unravel.

For now, China insists it remains committed to a policy of restraint and rejects any suggestion that it is secretly breaking long-standing norms. The public exchange highlights how fragile the global arms control framework has become, as mistrust deepens and major powers trade accusations rather than binding commitments.