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Statement by the Press Secretary on Nuclear Testing by China

October 05, 1993

Last night China conducted an underground nuclear test at the Lop Nur test site in northwest China, despite the urging of more than 20 nations, including the United States, not to do so.

The United States deeply regrets this action. We urge China to refrain from further nuclear tests and to join the other nuclear powers in a global moratorium. Such a moratorium will contribute to the achievement of the administration's goal of completing a Comprehensive Test Ban by 1996, to which the administration is committed.

The President has today directed the Department of Energy to take such actions as are needed to put the U.S. in a position to be able to conduct nuclear tests next year, provided the notification and review conditions of the Hatfield-Exon-Mitchell amendment are met in the spring of 1994.

The President's ultimate decision on whether to test will be based on fundamental U.S. national security interests, taking into account:

—the contribution further tests would make to improving the safety and reliability of the U.S. arsenal in preparation for a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTB)

—the extent to which China and others have responded to the U.S. appeal for a global moratorium on testing;

—progress in the CTB negotiations;

—the implications of further U.S. nuclear tests on our broader nonproliferation objectives.

Administration officials will begin consultations at once with Congress and our allies on these issues.

William J. Clinton, Statement by the Press Secretary on Nuclear Testing by China Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/218271

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