USA Say’s China may be Conducted Nuclear Test – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

•  The State Department is concerned China may be conducting small nuclear tests in secret, possibly violating an international agreement banning such tests

“ZERO YIELD”

• US concerns about Beijing’s possible breaches of a “zero yield” standard for test blasts have been prompted by activities at China’s Lop Nur nuclear test site throughout 2019, the State Department report said.
• Zero yield refers to a nuclear test in which there is no explosive chain reaction of the type ignited by the detonation of a nuclear warhead.

“ZERO YIELD”

•  The line here is finely drawn, but, among other things, subcritical testing is not prohibited by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, while safety tests are

COMPREHENSIVE NUCLEAR TEST BAN TREATY

• The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test- Ban Treaty (CTBT) is the treaty banning all nuclear explosions – everywhere, by everyone. The treaty was negotiated at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1996.

OTHER ACCUSATIONS

•  The report went on to cite further concerns about China’s possible violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) by engaging “in biological activities with potential dual-use application.”
•  The U.S. government also could not determine if China had shut down its biological warfare program, nor could it confirm if Beijing still had access to such weapons, due to its lack of openness and transparency.

IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA

If the U.S decides to raise this issue further on the international stage it could be great news for India American accusations on CTBT violations can open door for a new nuclear test regime where India could get a fair share Of course, all this is based on a hypothetical scenario.

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