 "President Donald Trump alleged Sunday that countries including Russia and China have conducted underground nuclear tests. (File Photo/AFP)")
China on Monday firmly rejected US President Donald Trump’s accusations that it had secretly conducted underground nuclear tests. The Foreign Ministry called the claims “groundless”, reiterating that Beijing remains committed to its moratorium on nuclear testing and continues to uphold international non-proliferation obligations.
“China has always adhered to the path of peaceful development, pursued a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, upheld a self-defence nuclear strategy and abided by its commitment to suspend nuclear testing,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Trump claims Russia, China secretly conducted nuclear tests
Trump alleged that countries including Russia and China have conducted underground nuclear tests secretly and that the United States would follow suit.
“Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it,” he told CBS’s “60 Minutes” programme in an interview released Sunday.
“I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test,” he said, adding North Korea and Pakistan to the list of nations allegedly testing their arsenals.
Uncertainty continues to surround Donald Trump’s directive for the United States to resume nuclear testing — particularly over whether it signals the country’s first nuclear detonation since 1992.
The 79-year-old Republican made the unexpected announcement in a social media post on Thursday, just minutes before a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. It followed Russia’s declaration that it had successfully tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, along with a nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable underwater drone.
When asked directly by CBS whether the United States intended to detonate a nuclear weapon for the first time in over three decades, Trump replied: “I’m saying that we’re going to test nuclear weapons like other countries do, yes.”