U.S. reveals new details of alleged Chinese nuclear test

U.S. officials allege China conducted a secret nuclear test in 2020, which China vehemently denies as unfounded.

A senior U.S. official on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) revealed what he said were new details of an underground nuclear test blast ‌that China allegedly conducted in June 2020.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Yeaw told an ​event at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington that a remote seismic station in Kazakhstan ⁠measured an “explosion” of magnitude 2.75 located 720 km away at the Lop Nor test grounds in western China on June 22, 2020.

“I’ve looked at additional data since then. There is very little possibility I would say that it is anything but ‌an explosion, a singular explosion,” said Mr. Yeaw, adding that the data were not consistent with mining blasts.

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“It’s also entirely not consistent with an earthquake,” said Mr. Yeaw, a former intelligence analyst and defence ‌official who holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering. “It is ... what you would expect with a nuclear explosive test.”

The ‌Comprehensive ⁠Test Ban Treaty Organization, which is charged with detecting nuclear test explosions, said that there was ⁠insufficient data to confirm Mr. Yeaw’s allegation with confidence.