Chinese villages and farms have been flattened to make way for a facility where communist scientists use super-powered lasers to simulate nuclear explosions, according to a new satellite investigation that reveals Beijing’s nuclear weapons program is expanding far faster than previously known.
The Telegraph published satellite image analysis on Wednesday showing active construction at seven nuclear sites across China: Pingtong, Zitong, Lop Nur, Jiuquan, Mianyang, Jinta, and Guangyuan. All seven facilities are expanding rapidly, the investigation found, even as Beijing continues to publicly downplay its nuclear ambitions and accuse the United States of stoking an arms race.
The revelation comes just as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Nuclear weapons are not confirmed to be on the agenda. Instead, the two leaders are expected to discuss artificial intelligence, which Trump now calls “super intelligence,” and its growing role in national security and military competition.
China’s nuclear warhead stockpile has more than doubled under Xi’s leadership. The communist nation currently holds approximately 600 warheads, trailing Russia’s roughly 5,500 and America’s 5,300. But the gap is closing.
Earlier this year, the United States confronted Beijing about a “secret nuclear test” conducted in 2020. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno accused China of deliberately hiding the test from international monitors.
“China sought to conceal testing by obfuscating the nuclear explosions because it recognized these tests violate test ban commitments,” DiNanno said. “China has used ‘decoupling,’ a method to decrease the effectiveness of seismic monitoring, to hide their activities from the world.”
Chinese ambassador Shen Jian rejected the accusations, instead pointing the finger at Washington.
“The U.S. is the culprit for the aggravation of the arms race,” Shen said. “China notes that the U.S. continues in its statement to hype up the so-called China nuclear threat. China firmly opposes such false narratives.”
The diplomatic tension unfolds against a backdrop of shifting global arms control frameworks. The New START Treaty between the United States and Russia expired in February, leaving the world’s two largest nuclear powers without a binding agreement to limit their arsenals.
DiNanno made clear at the Geneva conference earlier this year that the old model no longer fits today’s threat environment.
“Today, the United States faces threats from multiple nuclear powers,” he said. “In short, a bilateral treaty with only one nuclear power is simply inappropriate in 2026 and going forward.”
The Trump administration has urged China to join a new multilateral nuclear arms agreement. The original START I treaty, signed in 1991, involved only the United States and Russia. Former President Barack Obama later signed the New START Treaty with Russia in 2009 after the previous agreement lapsed.
Shen signaled Beijing has little interest in joining such talks, citing China’s smaller stockpile as justification.
“In this new era, we hope the U.S. will abandon Cold War thinking and embrace common and cooperative security,” he said.
China officially maintains a “no-first-use” nuclear policy, promising never to launch a nuclear strike first under any circumstances. But the aggressive expansion of its nuclear infrastructure, combined with evidence of concealed testing, raises serious questions about the communist regime’s true intentions.
The Chinese nuclear program dates back to the 1950s, when the Soviet Union provided early assistance. China detonated its first nuclear weapon on October 16, 1964. Six decades later, the program shows no signs of slowing down.
