China rejects US claims of nuclear testing

The Washington administration’s allegations that China has conducted explosive nuclear tests in recent years are unfounded and represent an attempt by the United States to evade its disarmament obligations, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington Liu Pengyu said.

"The United States has distorted and smeared China’s nuclear policyю This is political manipulation aimed at pursuing nuclear hegemony and evading its own nuclear disarmament responsibilities," Liu Pengyu said.

He commented on the remarks by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and Non-proliferation Christopher Yeaw that China allegedly conducted explosive nuclear tests in recent years.

"China firmly opposes such narratives. U.S. allegations about China conducting nuclear explosive tests are entirely unfounded," Liu Pengyu said.

Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Robert Floyd has provided the following statement:

“At the specific time of 9:18am UTC, on 22 June 2020, the CTBTO's International Monitoring System (IMS) detected two very small seismic events, 12 seconds apart...The IMS is currently capable of identifying events consistent with nuclear test explosions with a yield equivalent to or greater than approximately 500 tonnes of TNT. These two events were far below that level," Robert Floyd said.

 According to him, with this data alone, it is not possible to assess the cause of these events with confidence.