US has accused China of detonating a nuclear bomb

“I have studied additional data since then. There is a very low probability that this was anything other than an explosion, a single explosion. This is exactly what you would expect from a nuclear weapons test,” said US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Yue.

On June 22, 2020, the remote seismic station PS23 in Kazakhstan recorded an explosion with a magnitude of 2.75 at a distance of 720 km from the Lop Nur test site in western China. Yue noted that the characteristics of the signal do not correspond to an earthquake or industrial explosions in mines, Reuters reports.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said the recorded data was insufficient to confirm the allegations with certainty. The organization's executive secretary, Robert Floyd, noted that the monitoring system detected two very small seismic events 12 seconds apart, whose power was significantly below the threshold for reliable detection.

“As a result, it is impossible to assess the cause of these events with certainty based on this data,” Floyd said.

EV suggested that Beijing tried to conceal the tests using a decoupling method. This technology involves detonating the device in a large underground chamber, which significantly reduces the strength of seismic waves passing through the surrounding rock.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, called these accusations completely unfounded. He said that the US was trying to fabricate a reason to resume its own nuclear tests and was engaging in political manipulation to achieve nuclear hegemony.

Photo: Max Smith.