U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that countries like Pakistan, Russia, China and North Korea are conducting nuclear-weapons tests, and said the United States must resume testing because of this.
He claimed that America is “the only country that doesn’t test” while others do. He added that the U.S. must test on an “equal basis” with rival states to keep its weapons effective and its deterrence credible.
In comments made just before a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping, Trump said that recent developments in other countries’ nuclear programmes made it appropriate for the U.S. to restart testing, especially after a more than 30-year pause.
Officials in the Trump administration clarified that the planned tests will not involve underground nuclear explosions or full detonations. Instead, they will be “system tests” or “non-critical explosions” experiments on components and subsystems of nuclear weapons, rather than full blasts.
China has denied the U.S. president’s claim about secret nuclear-weapons tests, reaffirming its commitment to not testing nuclear weapons and to a “no-first-use” policy.
The U.S. has not conducted a nuclear-explosive test since 1992. If the U.S. resumes full testing, experts warn this could mark a major shift in global nuclear-arms norms and might prompt other nuclear-armed states to follow suit.
Concerns Raised by Experts
Security experts and analysts are divided:
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Some agree with Trump and say other countries may be secretly improving nuclear weapons.
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Others warn that if the U.S. restarts testing, it could trigger a new nuclear race and increase global tensions.
They also say this could harm international peace talks and make relations with rival countries more unstable.
Global Reaction
While official government agencies have not confirmed any new testing plans, Trump's comments have already drawn attention worldwide. Many nations are watching closely to see whether America will take actual steps or if this is only political talk.