Chinese scientists have successfully converted thorium into uranium in an operational molten salt reactor, achieving a world-first scientific breakthrough that validates the thorium fuel cycle for safer,

China has always maintained an explicit no-first-use policy, meaning that it would only use nuclear weapons in retaliation for another nuclear attack. Partially for financial reasons, it also adopted a minimalistic approach for its force structure, seeking only enough weapons to deter an opponent.

Russia is testing nuclear weapons, and China is testing them too, you just don’t know about it,” Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday.

China is emerging as a fierce competitor to the US in the race to build small modular reactors and fusion that can help power data centers.

The world is entering an unmapped era of nuclear risk. The answer is not new explosive tests, but a coordinated campaign with allies to maximize deterrence while working to establish new norms against further expansion of nuclear weapons and managing the use of AI in decision-making systems.

Just days after touting a trade truce with China, President Trump acknowledged that China is "always watching us." American intelligence agencies say the Chinese have infiltrated parts of the U.S. power grid and water systems.