'Will earnestly abide by...': China's first response after Trump allows nuclear weapons testing 'immediately'

After Trump's nuclear testing order, China urged the United States to "earnestly abide" by a global nuclear testing ban. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said that China would like the US to take concrete actions to safeguard the global nuclear disarmament. Trump on Wednesday (Oct 30) said that he has instructed the Department of War to start testing nuclear weapons "immediately," without offering further details. The move came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow had successfully tested a nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered underwater drone. Notably, this is the first time the US ordered testing of nuclear weapons after 1992.

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"China hopes the United States will earnestly abide by the obligations of the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty and its commitment to a ban on nuclear testing, and take concrete actions to safeguard the global nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation system and safeguard global strategic balance and stability," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.

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In a Truth Social post, Trump said that the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country. Highlighting that he hates testing of nuclear weapons “because of the tremendous destructive power,” Trump added that he is ordering the same because of the testing programs of other nations. “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years. Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” he said in the post.

The US last conducted a nuclear test, “Divider,” on September 23, 1992, at the Nevada National Security Site. Then President George H. W Bush imposed a moratorium that year, but the US retains the capability to resume testing at the same site if needed. However, in response to Trump’s post, Nevada congresswoman Dina Titus posted on X: “Absolutely not. I’ll be introducing legislation to put a stop to this.”