China conducted nuclear tests days after Galwan Valley clash in 2020: Top US official
In the Galwan Valley clash in May 2020, 20 Indian soldiers had lost their lives. Intelligence reports suggest that over 40 Chinese soldiers were also killed in the clashes; although China has never confirmed them.
China had conducted secret nuclear explosive tests just days after the deadly clash with Indian forces at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, said a top US official earlier this week. The Galwan Valley clash had happened in May 2020 in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives. Though China never declared officially on how many soldiers it lost, intelligence reports suggest more than 40 of its personnel were killed in the clashes.
The claim was made by US Under Secretary of State Thomas G DiNanno. However, he did not link the tests directly to the Galwan Valley clash, as conducting a nuclear test requires months of planning. According to some unconfirmed reports, China has around 600 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.
"China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons… China has used decoupling – a method to decrease the effectiveness of seismic monitoring – to hide its activities from the world. China conducted one such yield producing nuclear test on June 22, 2020," DiNanno said in a series of posts on X (previously Twitter).
However, China has neither rejected, nor denied DiNanno's claim but said that it has always acted responsibly in nuclear matters. In a statement, Chinese ambassador on disarmament Shen Jian also accused the United States of aggravating the arms race. "China notes that the U.S. continues in its statement to hype up the so-called China nuclear threat. China firmly opposes such false narratives," he said.
New START no longer relevant
In his posts, the US Under Secretary of State stated that the New START that was signed in 2010 is no longer relevant in the present era. He claimed that only a fraction of Russia's much larger stockpile was covered by the New START, while almost all of US deployed nuclear forces were subject to agreement. And "exactly zero" Chinese nuclear weapons were covered by New START, he said.
He said the US can now take steps to strengthen deterrence on behalf of its people and allies. However, he noted that the US has maintained a willingness to seek strategic stability and arms control arrangements that are verifiable, enforceable, and contribute to its security.
"This confluence of factors – serial Russian violations, growth of worldwide stockpiles, and flaws in New START’s design and implementation – gives the United States a clear imperative to call for a new architecture that addresses the threats of today, not those of a bygone era," DiNanno said.
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