Donald Trump claimed on Monday that China was rapidly making and testing nukes — prompting a sharp rebuttal from Beijing. The US recently ordered a resumption of nuclear weapon testing after a halt of 33 years. Trump claimed that the decision was necessary since other nations were “secretly” conducting such tests.
“As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible nuclear-weapon state, China has always adhered to the path of peaceful development, upheld the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, pursued a self-defensive nuclear strategy, and faithfully observed its commitment to suspending nuclear tests,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
The Chinese official also urged the US to fulfill its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and uphold the ‘international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime’.
“We also hope the U.S. side will earnestly fulfill its obligations under the CTBT and its commitment to suspending nuclear tests, take concrete actions to maintain the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, and preserve global strategic balance and stability,” the state-run China News Service quoted Mao as saying.
What did Trump say?
The US President claimed during an interview on Sunday that both China and Russia were conducting ‘secret’ nuclear weapons tests. Trump vehemently defended his recent decision to resume tests after a gap of 33 years — insisting that it was necessary to keep up with rival nations.
“Russia’s testing and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. We’re an open society. We’re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it because otherwise you people are going to report. They don’t have reporters that are going to be writing about it. We’re going to test because they test and others test. And certainly North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing,” he told CBS News.
The US military was recently ordered to immediately restart the process for testing nuclear weapons after a halt of 33 years — viewed by most as a message to rival nuclear powers China and Russia. The decision was announced while the POTUS was en route to a meeting with Xi Jinping and came mere weeks after Moscow held trials trials of advanced nuclear-capable systems, including a Poseidon underwater drone.
