GENEVA: The United States on Friday accused China of conducting secret nuclear tests in 2020 and called for a new arms control treaty that would include China and Russia. The accusations at the global disarmament conference underscored deep tensions between Washington and Beijing at a critical moment for nuclear arms control, one day after a treaty limiting the deployment of U.S. and Russian missiles and warheads expired.The 2010 New START Treaty, which came into force on Thursday, leaves Russia and the United States without any binding restrictions on the deployment of their strategic missiles and warheads for the first time since 1972. President Trump wants to replace it with a new deal that includes China, which is rapidly increasing its own arsenal. Meanwhile, Washington says it will continue to modernize its nuclear forces. “Russia and China should not expect the United States to stand by while it shirks its obligations and expands its nuclear capabilities. We will maintain a strong, credible and modern nuclear deterrent,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.President Trump on Thursday rejected President Putin’s offer to voluntarily extend the cap on the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons. The Kremlin said Russian and U.S. negotiators discussed the expiration of the Strategic Arms Treaty on Friday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Both sides talked about this in Abu Dhabi, both sides will take a responsible stance and both sides are aware of the need to start negotiations as soon as possible.”Thomas DiNanno, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, said in a speech at the Geneva Disarmament Conference, “I can disclose that the U.S. government is aware that China has conducted nuclear tests, including preparations for tests with a designated yield of several hundred tons.”China uses ‘decoupling’, a method of reducing the effectiveness of earthquake monitoring, to hide its activities from the world,” Dinamo said. He said that China had conducted such a “production test” on June 22, 2020.Shen Jian, China’s disarmament ambassador, said Beijing has always acted responsibly on nuclear issues. China has noticed that the United States continues to hype up the so-called nuclear threat from China, and China firmly opposes such false remarks. “It (the United States) is the main culprit in exacerbating the arms race.”Di Nanno said: “Today, the United States faces threats from multiple major powers. It is inappropriate to sign a treaty with only one nuclear power in 2026.” But Shen reiterated that China will not participate in negotiations at this stage. “In this era, we hope that the United States will abandon the Cold War mentality and embrace cooperative security,” Shen said.
