America’s top diplomat for nuclear-weapons issues, Undersecretary of State Thomas DiNanno, revealed this month that China conducted a secret underground nuclear test in June 2020. This follows President Trump’s promise in October to resume U.S. nuclear-weapons testing for the first time since 1992, citing the need to keep up with China and Russia.
As the U.S. pursues this important work, it will face challenges far beyond the particulars of underground testing. One area where China is setting a threatening pace is the race for fusion energy, which has enormous potential as a source of electricity and for nuclear-weapons development.