Washington has accused China of conducting a secret nuclear test on June 22, 2020, days after Indian and Chinese troops clashed in Galwan.
Published: February 8, 2026 11:16 AM IST
China Conducted Nuclear Test After Galwan Clash: Donald Trump’s team has made a shocking revelation that China conducted a ‘secret’ nuclear test just days after the dreadful clash with the Indian Army in the Galwan Valley border area. This is the first time that Washington has shared the details publicly. US Under Secretary of State Thomas DiNanno revealed the details of China’s secret nuclear test during the United Nations conference on disarmament which was held in Geneva on Friday. Notably, the allegation comes following the end of the last nuclear arms deal between the US and Russia on February 5, with the US president wanting to include Beijing in a future nuclear pact.
What did Donald Trump’s Team Say?
DiNanno took to X and stated that his country has crucial intel of the Dragon conducting covert nuclear tests to hide it from detection by the world agencies. According to the senior US official, Beijing conducted such a nuclear test in June 2020. The test was conducted days after the deadly clash between the Indian Army and Chinese forces in the Galwan valley amid the border standoff in eastern Ladakh. It was the deadliest confrontation between soldiers of both countries in decades.
20 Indian army soldiers lost their lives in the hand-to-hand clash. China, on the other hand, never disclosed the casualty. However, global reports suggested that it lost more troops than India. The standoff ended in 2024 when both sides signed a deal. It is to be noted that an agreement between China and India forbids the use of firearms, due to which soldiers used sticks, barbed and spiked sticks during the clash.
What Exactly US Said On China Nuclear Test?
US revealed that Beijing allegedly conducted a nuclear test in 2020, possibly at the Lop Nur site, which is located in the Xinjiang region, near the border. According to Washington, China used a technique termed as ‘decoupling’ during the nuke tests which made it harder to detect the seismic signals. Decoupling is a technique in which explosives are detonated in a massive underground cavity to blur the seismic waves.
“The US government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons. China has used decoupling to hide its activities from the world. China conducted one such yield-producing nuclear test on June 22, 2020,” the US official tweeted.
Timing Of The Announcement
The US’s claim has come at a time when the India-China border standoff has re-echoed in the Parliament budget session. Rahul Gandhi accused the central government of not handling the issue properly.
What Did Experts Say?
According to geopolitical experts, if China conducted a nuclear test days after the Galwan clash, it would have taken months of planning. The deadly clash served as the perfect cover for China to carry out a nuclear test.
China had to conduct the nuke tests secretly since it is a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The CTBT prohibits explosive nuclear tests. However, like the US, China has not ratified the treaty.
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