""We're not going to remain at an intolerable disadvantage," Christopher Yeaw, who heads the State Department's Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation, said during a discussion at the Hudson Institute, a think tank in Washington. He urged Beijing to "come clean" about its nuclear weapons tests, which some U.S. officials and experts say is part of a determined Chinese effort to catch up to, if not eclipse, the United States' global advantage in nuclear weapons technology."
"The event in question occurred June 22, 2020, "right near" a secretive facility known as Lop Nur in China's western Xinjiang region, Yeaw told those attending the discussion. The U.S., he added, used seismic data captured by a facility in neighboring Kazakhstan to conclude that China had conducted an explosive nuclear test. The activity - measured at a magnitude of 2.76 - was not consistent with an earthquake or explosions used in mining, Yeaw said. The suspected explosion's yield - meaning the amount of energy it released - remains unclear because of the Chinese government's efforts to conceal the test, he said, adding, "We know that they were preparing designated tests of hundreds of tons" in yield."
U.S. officials allege that China conducted an underground nuclear explosion near the Lop Nur facility on June 22, 2020, citing seismic data recorded by a station in Kazakhstan. The event registered a magnitude of 2.76 and was characterized as inconsistent with an earthquake or mining blasts. The estimated yield remains unclear due to alleged Chinese concealment, though officials claim preparations indicated tests of hundreds of tons. The allegation has fueled calls for Chinese transparency and renewed U.S. consideration of explosive testing. Independent experts caution that seismic and satellite data likely remain inconclusive for definitive proof.
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