China has no plans to test its nuclear weapons, a Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday, responding to statements by George W. Bush administration officials that tests were likely.
The diplomat, speaking to reporters at a background briefing, said China was a signer of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and would stand by the intent of the treaty. The official said China had some capacity to test the safety of its weapons by computer simulation.
The issue has arisen in the last several days because US officials told reporters that as China builds up its nuclear arsenal it may want to resume underground nuclear tests as a way to determine the safety and reliability of the weapons. The officials have also been quoted as saying that the US may want to resume testing, too.
"China is a signatory to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty -- even if China has not ratified the treaty -- and China is not going to test nuclear weapons," the diplomat said. "As you know, the purpose of the Comprehensive Test Ban treaty is to prevent the advancement of nuclear weapons," he added. "There are other ways you can prove the reliability of nuclear weapons, through computer simulation."
According to US intelligence estimates, China has from 20 to 24 long-range nuclear missiles created in the 1950s and 1960s as a minimal deterrent. China is now in the process of replacing those missiles with mobile, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles. Bush administration officials predicted that as China built these new weapons it would have to resume underground testing because its computer simulation ability was inadequate to assure the reliability of the new arsenal.
The Chinese diplomat said that it was reasonable for China to forge ahead with the modernization of its military, including its nuclear weapons.
"Every country is doing that," he said. It was as normal, he said, as "buying new spring clothes if you can afford it." As China's economic situation improved, the military would be modernized, he said.
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