China urges America to ‘earnestly abide’ by global nuclear testing ban after Trump orders weapons testing

After agreeing to delay its latest curbs on export of rare earth minerals to the United States, China on 30 October also urged Washington to “earnestly abide” by the global nuclear testing ban, AFP reported.

This comes after US President Donald Trump said he was directing the Pentagon to immediately resume the testing of nuclear weapons. No further details were shared, but if the order is implemented, this would be the US' first nuclear test in 33 years, it added.

Notably, Donald Trump reporters this before his bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea today. Now, after both countries announced that trade talks are on the go, China has urged for the nuclear testing ban to be followed.

Trump says US to restart nuclear weapons testing: How did China react?

In an official statement, China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told the media that the country hopes the US will continue to follow global consensus on nuclear weapons and take concrete actions to safeguard nuclear disarmament.

“China hopes the United States will earnestly abide by the obligations of the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty and its commitment to a ban on nuclear testing, and take concrete actions to safeguard the global nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation system and safeguard global strategic balance and stability,” Guo stated, as per AFP.

US-China reach deal on rare earths after Tump-Xi meeting?

China on 30 October agreed to delay restrictions on export of critical minerals as part of a deal made between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping during their two hour long meeting today, on the sidelines of the APEC 2025 Summit in South Korea, as per a Reuters report.

Notably, the deal is for the latest curbs announced by China, while similar restrictions announced earlier in April, remain in place, it added.

Rare earths, aka critical minerals, comprise 17 elements used in products such as automobiles, electronics, planes, and weapons. The large resource deposits in China have given the Asian economic powerhouse considerable leverage in negotiations.

After his talks with Xi, Donald Trump said China has agreed to keep rare earth exports flowing and the issue was “settled”, some time later, China's Ministry of Commerce also announced that the export curbs announced on 9 October, would be paused for one year.

Pentagon to begin testing nuclear weapons?

In a post on Truth Social, minutes before his meeting with Xi Jinping, Donald Trump said that he has ordered the US military to “immediately” resume nuclear weapons testing after a gap of 33 years.

“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Because of the tremendous destructive power, I HATED to do it, but had no choice! Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years. Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Donald Trump wrote.

However, on his way back to the US, after talks with Xi, the US President told reporters aboard the Air Force One that test sites would be “determined later”, according to a Reuters report.

“With others doing testing, I think it's appropriate that we do also. Nuclear test sites would be determined later,” he said. It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to nuclear-explosive testing, which would be carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration, or flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles, the Reuters report added.

The United States last tested a nuclear weapon in 1992 and most major nuclear powers, except North Korea, also stopped testing in the 1990s. The last confirmed nuclear tests (excluding N Korea), were by Russia (1990), US (1992), and China (1996), it added.

(With inputs from AFP and Reuters)