Did China Conduct A Secret Nuclear Test Days After Violent Galwan Valley Clash? US Accuses Them Of ‘Decoupling’: ‘These Tests Violate Commitments’

After the New START Treaty expired, the U.S. accused China of secretly carrying out a nuclear test on June 22, 2020 just days after the deadly clash in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

US Accuses China of Secret Nuclear Test Days After Galwan Valley Clash

The New START Treaty, signed back in 2010 by President Obama and Russian President Medvedev, was meant to cap U.S. and Russian missile and warhead deployments. But it never touched China.

At a disarmament conference in Geneva, tensions between Washington and Beijing came to a head. Thomas DiNanno, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security didn’t hold back.

“The U.S. government is aware China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with yields in the hundreds of tons,” he announced.

US Claims China Conducted Hidden Nuclear Test in 2020

He accused the Chinese military of deliberately muddying the waters to hide their nuclear explosions. “They know these tests break the rules,” DiNanno said, pointing to a technique called “decoupling” basically a way to weaken seismic monitoring so the world can’t spot what’s going on.

According to DiNanno, China pulled off one of these “yield-producing tests” on June 22, 2020. This happened just a week after the June 15 clash in Galwan Valley, where Indian and Chinese troops fought hand-to-hand.

Twenty Indian soldiers died. Reports suggested Chinese casualties topped 30, but Beijing only admitted to four.

DiNanno also argued that New START’s limits just don’t fit today’s reality, especially with one nuclear power rapidly expanding its arsenal and another Russia maintaining a huge stockpile that’s barely touched by the treaty’s rules.

He pointed out that all U.S. nuclear forces were subject to the treaty, while only a slice of Russia’s much larger arsenal was. And China? “Zero Chinese nuclear weapons were covered by New START,” he noted.

US Levels Explosive Allegations of Secret China Nuclear Test

Now that the U.S. isn’t bound by the treaty, DiNanno said it can finally act to strengthen its deterrence, both for itself and its allies. He wrote on X that “serial Russian violations, the growth of worldwide stockpiles, and flaws in New START’s design” make it clear the U.S. needs a new approach, one that actually addresses today’s threats.

The U.S., he said, wants arms control agreements that are “verifiable, enforceable, and actually make the U.S. and its allies safer.” And this time, he insisted, the U.S. isn’t interested in talks just for the sake of appearances it wants real progress, backed by action.

How did China respond? 

China, for its part, didn’t directly address the U.S. claims. But Shen Jian, China’s ambassador on disarmament, called out the U.S. for exaggerating the “China nuclear threat” and insisted that China has always acted responsibly. “The U.S. is the real driver of the arms race,” Shen said.

DiNanno had claimed China could have over 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. Shen pushed back, saying China had no plans to join U.S. and Russian negotiations at this point, and reminded everyone that China’s arsenal of around 600 warheads is still much smaller than the roughly 4,000 nukes each that Moscow and Washington hold.

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