Chinese Nuclear Test Draws Condemnation
China conducted an underground nuclear test Monday, just days after more than 170 nations agreed to indefinitely extend the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The official New China News Agency did not say when or where the test took place, but the Australian Seismological Center monitored the blast and said it occurred at Lop Nur, in the Xinjiang region of western China.
The center estimated that the blast was equivalent to between 40 and 150 kilotons of dynamite.
China has continued to conduct nuclear tests in defiance of an international moratorium and of calls from the United States, Japan and others to stop, and it expects to conduct four more tests by the end of 1996.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman who announced Monday’s explosion said China will stop nuclear testing once an international comprehensive test ban treaty is implemented.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
