China Advances Development of ‘Next-Generation’ Nuclear Weapons with Recent Confidential Test

U.S. intelligence agencies are raising concerns over China’s efforts to develop a “new generation” of nuclear weapons, with reports suggesting that Beijing has already carried out at least one clandestine explosive test.

According to U.S. officials cited by CNN, China’s ambitious plans to significantly enhance its nuclear arsenal—currently consisting of around 600 operational warheads—could signal a major shift in its nuclear strategy.

An anonymous U.S. source revealed that China is working on advanced weapons systems for which they currently lack comprehensive data. This insight highlights the potential implications of China’s expanding nuclear capabilities.

The reported overhaul, which allegedly includes a secret nuclear test conducted in February, has been driven by substantial financial investments, although the full scale of this funding remains undisclosed.

For the first time, China is focusing on developing low-yield, tactical nuclear weapons, possibly with scenarios in mind where the United States might intervene militarily to defend Taiwan, the report suggests.

In addition, China is said to have conducted an explosive nuclear test in June 2020 at the highly secretive Lop Nur facility, located in the remote northwestern part of the country.

That 2020 test was conducted despite a self-imposed moratorium that was implemented in 1996, CNN reported.

New information on that 2020 test confirmed US suspicions that China is advancing its nuclear program, officials in Washington said. That test registered an explosion of 2.75 on the Richter scale, according to Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Yeaw, who reviewed the additional data.

“I’ve looked at additional data since then,” Yeah said. “There is very little possibility I would say that it is anything but an explosion, a singular explosion.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, told CNN that the US has “distorted and smeared China’s nuclear policy.”