Beijing: China on Monday asked the US to uphold the moratorium on nuclear testing, following President Donald Trump's directive to the Pentagon to prepare for the resumption of nuclear weapons testing. 'We hope the United States will uphold the moratorium on nuclear testing and uphold the global strategic balance and may take concrete action to uphold international disarmament and non-proliferation regime,' China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.

According to Anadolu Agency, Mao reiterated China's commitment to peaceful development and emphasized the country's policy on nuclear weapons. She stated, 'We uphold the principle of not to use nuclear weapon first and use the nuclear weapon for defense.' Mao also expressed China's readiness to collaborate with other nations to support the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and strengthen the non-proliferation regime and disarmament efforts.

President Trump, in an interview on Sunday, suggested that North Korea was not alone in conducting nuclear tests, alleging that Russia and China were also engaging in such activities. 'Russia is testing, and China is testing, but they don't talk about it,' Trump claimed. These assertions came just days after he instructed the US military to resume nuclear weapons testing, an action that would mark the first such tests in over three decades.