By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
US President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that countries such as Russia and China have been carrying out underground nuclear tests unknown to the public, insisting that the United States would resume testing as well.
Speaking during an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes programme, Trump said: “Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it.”
“I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test,” he continued, adding that North Korea and Pakistan were also among the nations allegedly testing their nuclear arsenals.
Uncertainty has surrounded Trump’s order for the United States to resume nuclear tests, with observers questioning whether he intends to authorise the country’s first nuclear detonation since 1992.
The 79-year-old president made the announcement last Thursday in a social media post, moments before entering a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea.
His statement came shortly after Russia announced that it had successfully tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, and an underwater nuclear-capable drone.
When asked directly if the United States planned to detonate a nuclear weapon for the first time in more than three decades, Trump responded: “I’m saying that we’re going to test nuclear weapons like other countries do, yes.”
No other nation apart from North Korea is known to have conducted a nuclear explosion in decades, with Russia and China reportedly ceasing such tests since 1990 and 1996 respectively.
Pressed further on the matter, Trump said: “They don’t go and tell you about it. As powerful as they are, this is a big world. You don’t necessarily know where they’re testing.”
“They test way underground where people don’t know exactly what’s happening with the test. You feel a little bit of a vibration,” he added.
In response, China’s foreign ministry on Monday dismissed Trump’s claims, insisting that Beijing has maintained a responsible nuclear policy.
“As a responsible nuclear-weapons state, China has always… upheld a self-defence nuclear strategy and abided by its commitment to suspend nuclear testing,” spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press conference in Beijing.
She further stated that China hopes the United States will “take concrete actions to safeguard the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime and maintain global strategic balance and stability.”
Meanwhile, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright appeared to play down Trump’s remarks, explaining that the proposed tests would not involve actual nuclear explosions.
“I think the tests we’re talking about right now are system tests. These are not nuclear explosions,” Wright told Fox News on Sunday.
“These are what we call ‘non-critical explosions,’ so you’re testing all the other parts of a nuclear weapon to make sure they deliver the appropriate geometry and they set up the nuclear explosion,” he said.
The United States remains a signatory to the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which prohibits all atomic test explosions.
AFP