Alice Han

is accusing China of secretly testing a nuclear weapon back in 2020.

The accusation comes just as the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty is expiring.

With Trump pushing for a broader deal that would include both China and Russia, the global nuclear landscape is suddenly shifting very, very quickly.

James, how credible are these claims that China has been secretly testing nuclear weapons?

Apparently, according to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, they haven't found or detected any such nuclear weapons tests.

But according to the U.S.

administration, they've been doing this.

So what's your take on it?

Yeah, I completely agree with you, James.

I think the real issue for the US administration is that they have no leverage.

against China on this issue.

As you rightly point out, China hasn't signed any document that prohibits them from this kind of testing.

And certainly there isn't a bilateral agreement like we've had in recent years between Russia and the US that also curtails China from doing these nuclear tests.

The timing couldn't be more interesting because obviously on February 6th, we had the expiration of the last major nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia.

And a lot of, if you go back to the Cold War, the relationship between Moscow and Washington was built around strategic arms controls.

So the question that is then begged is, you know, we've got two months until the April potential meeting between Trump and Xi.

Will both sides make a big deal about this?

Certainly, it seems like the Americans are very concerned, but could there be some kind of a framework?

I'm a little bit skeptical.

But this, I think, is going to be one of the, I would say, difficult issues between Beijing and Washington to discuss this year.