What is the US's intention in suddenly hyping up China's secret nuclear tests? Is China really preparing to conduct hundreds of tons of nuclear tests as the US claims? What does the US hope to achieve in this round of nuclear weapons-related confrontation with China?

According to a report from the "China Times News" on February 7, foreign media reported that during a disarmament conference held in Geneva the previous day, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, D'Amelio, accused China of conducting at least one secret nuclear test in recent years.

D'Amelio claimed that China conducted a nuclear test on June 22, 2020, which produced an explosion yield, saying, "Today I can reveal that the U.S. government has learned that China conducted a nuclear test, including preparations for a nuclear test with a yield of hundreds of tons," and "the Chinese military is trying to conceal the nuclear test by using decoupling, which is a method to reduce the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, because these tests violate the commitment to ban nuclear testing."

Embassador Shen Jian

D'Amelio said that the Chinese military tried to use decoupling, a method to lower the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, to hide related activities; in response, Chinese Ambassador to Disarmament Shen Jian stated that China has been extremely cautious and responsible on nuclear issues.

Frankly speaking, D'Amelio made an extremely serious accusation against China, that is, China violated the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and also broke its commitment to suspend nuclear tests before the whole world.

On July 29, 1996, China conducted its last nuclear test, and then the Chinese government solemnly announced the suspension of nuclear tests and signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in the same year. Since then, China has always emphasized that it has taken a responsible attitude towards nuclear issues, adhered to the path of peaceful development, and made positive contributions to maintaining world peace and stability.

China's first atomic bomb successfully exploded

In addition, D'Amelio also emphasized that China was preparing to conduct a nuclear test with a yield of hundreds of tons, which is essentially also a very serious accusation, implying that China still has the intention to violate the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and the international community should take it seriously.

Considering some recent moves by the U.S., I don't think the two accusations made by D'Amelio are true. Since President Trump took office, he has repeatedly called on China to join the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control negotiations, but China refused with the reason that "the nuclear forces of China and the U.S. are not on the same level, and it is neither fair nor reasonable to require China to join nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage."

Recently, the only nuclear arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia, the New START Treaty, expired, and the U.S. has not shown any interest in renewing it, instead trying to use this as leverage to force China to join the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control negotiations.

U.S.-Russia presidential meeting

On February 7, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio claimed that the arms control system based on the bilateral U.S.-Russia agreement no longer reflects the current reality, and due to China's significant enhancement of its nuclear capabilities in recent years, China should participate in the formulation of a new nuclear missile treaty. He also said, "An arms control arrangement that does not consider China will inevitably reduce the security of the United States and its allies."

At this point, the situation is basically clear. The U.S. is hyping up China's nuclear tests and its preparation for larger-yield nuclear tests, which is actually a variant of the "China threat theory," aiming to incite international public opinion against China and build a trilateral nuclear arms control mechanism between the U.S., China, and Russia.

From the U.S. perspective, accusing China of secretly conducting nuclear tests is a win-win strategy. On one hand, it can be used to pressure China to join the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control negotiations, as nuclear weapons are a very sensitive topic, and raising it can stir up a public outcry.

Dongfeng-5C

On the other hand, if China refuses, the U.S. can use the excuse that "China once conducted nuclear tests" to justify its own nuclear tests. After all, now there is no constraint from the New START Treaty, the U.S. can be more bold in the nuclear field.

However, as we said before, it is neither fair nor reasonable to demand China's participation in nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage. The U.S. fabricating more excuses to pressure China is meaningless. If the Trump administration is willing to restart nuclear tests, it doesn't matter for China, after all, we can just restart together.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7604047450525696558/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.