The United States voiced alarm over Beijing’s nuclear program after China test-fired a purported long-range missile into the Pacific Ocean, the latest move in its rapid military modernization.
“At a time when the United States is working harder than ever to prevent nuclear proliferation, China is doing the opposite,” US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
“Beijing’s rapid and opaque nuclear weapons buildup is of great concern to the region and the world,” he said in a statement.
China’s navy said Monday, “At 12:01 pm on July 6, a strategic nuclear submarine of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy successfully launched a… strategic missile carrying a training simulation warhead into the relevant high seas of the Pacific Ocean, accurately landing in the designated sea area.”
The State Department urged China to “engage in meaningful arms control discussions and commit to a regularized notification arrangement for all intercontinental-range ballistic missile and space launches.”
The United States in February allowed the expiration of New START, the last major arms control pact with Russia, as it insisted on a new agreement that also includes China.
The overtures have been rebuffed by China, whose nuclear arsenal is much smaller than Russia’s but has been rapidly growing. Washington has accused Russia and China of conducting secret nuclear tests.
In October 2025, Donald Trump announced that the United States was preparing to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 1992, in what he described as a response to tests conducted by other countries. (AFP)
