US Claims China Conducted 2020 Nuclear Test

By Staff, Agencies

The United States has accused China of carrying out an underground “nuclear explosive test” in June 2020, citing what it describes as fresh intelligence.

Beijing has repeatedly rejected the allegations as “entirely unfounded,” while independent observers say available evidence remains inconclusive.

Christopher Yeaw, the US assistant secretary for arms control and nonproliferation, made the latest claims on Tuesday during an event hosted by the Hudson Institute in Washington.

He pointed to seismic data “quite consistent with what you would expect from a nuclear explosive test.”

“I’ve looked at additional data since then. There is very little possibility, I would say, that it is anything but an explosion, a singular explosion,” Yeaw stated.

The minor 2.75-magnitude seismic event was registered by a remote station in Kazakhstan.

Its epicenter was located some 725km away at the Lop Nur nuclear testing grounds in China, prompting US officials to claim it resulted from an underground blast.

China has repeatedly dismissed the allegations as baseless and politically motivated, arguing they are used to justify Washington’s own potential return to nuclear testing.

Responding to Yeaw’s remarks, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington told Reuters the claims amounted to “political manipulation aimed at pursuing nuclear hegemony and evading its own nuclear disarmament responsibilities.”

Russia has backed Beijing, stating there is no evidence to support Washington’s claims.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that neither Russia nor China has conducted nuclear tests and noted that Chinese officials have firmly denied the accusations.