A senior US official has released fresh intelligence to support claims that China conducted a secret underground nuclear test in 2020, as Washington pushes for a new arms control deal that includes Beijing.
Christopher Yeaw, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, told a Washington think tank that a seismic station in Kazakhstan detected a 2.75 magnitude event on June 22, 2020, near China’s Lop Nur nuclear test site. He said the data points to “a singular explosion” consistent with a nuclear test.
The US allegation centers on a seismic event recorded at a monitoring station about 450 miles from China’s main nuclear test facility in western China. Yeaw, who holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering, said he personally examined the data and concluded it was “not consistent with an earthquake” or mining activity.
The claim comes from the Trump administration as it seeks to bring China into nuclear arms control negotiations following the expiration of the New START treaty with Russia on February 5 . Thomas DiNanno, US Undersecretary for Arms Control, first raised the allegation at a Geneva conference earlier this month.
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China has strongly denied the accusation. Foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian called it “completely groundless” and accused Washington of fabricating excuses to resume its own nuclear testing . The Chinese embassy in Washington described the claim as “entirely unfounded”.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said its monitoring system detected “two very small seismic events” 12 seconds apart that day, but they were far below the threshold for confidently identifying a nuclear explosion . Executive Secretary Robert Floyd stated that “with this data alone, it is not possible to assess the cause of these events with confidence”.
Independent experts remain divided. Ben Dando of NORSAR, a Norwegian seismic monitoring organization, said the signal was weak and recorded at only one station, making it impossible to confirm or deny a nuclear test . However, Tong Zhao of the Carnegie Endowment noted that satellite imagery shows China has been actively expanding facilities at Lop Nur.
The allegations surface as the world faces a nuclear arms control vacuum. The New START treaty—the last binding limit on US and Russian strategic arsenals—expired on February 5. President Trump has refused to extend it, arguing for a “better agreement” that includes China,
China has rejected trilateral talks, saying its nuclear arsenal remains far smaller than those of the US and Russia. The Pentagon estimates China currently has more than 600 operational warheads and could exceed 1,000 by 2030.
Yeaw confirmed the US will resume nuclear testing on an “equal basis” with other nations, though not returning to large-scale atmospheric tests. “Equal basis presumes a response to a prior standard. Look no further than China or Russia for that standard,” he said.
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The US last conducted a nuclear test in 1992. China’s last officially declared test was in 1996 . Both countries have signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
