The U.S. claims China is conducting secret nuclear tests. Here's what that means

""I can reveal that the U.S. government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons," he said in a speech to the attending delegates. He went on to say that China is using a technique known as "decoupling" to hide its activities. "China conducted one such yield-producing nuclear test on June 22 of 2020," DiNanno said."

"The last full-scale nuclear test took place in North Korea in 2017, said Ankit Panda, a nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "As of this month, we are in the longest period in human history without a nuclear test," he said. (That's since the U.S. tested the first atomic bomb in 1945.) The U.S. conducted its last nuclear test in 1992, and China conducted its last official test in 1996."

U.S. undersecretary Thomas DiNanno announced that U.S. intelligence shows China has conducted nuclear explosive tests and prepared tests with yields in the hundreds of tons. The announcement stated China used a technique known as "decoupling" to mask activity and cited a yield-producing nuclear test on June 22, 2020. China denied the claims, calling them "outright lies" and accused the U.S. of fabricating excuses for restarting nuclear tests. Most nations have not tested nuclear weapons for years; the last full-scale test was North Korea in 2017. The U.S. last tested in 1992 and China in 1996; both are CTBT signatories.

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