China's 'Dongfeng-26' (DF-26) missile [EPA Yonhap News]

U.S. intelligence authorities reportedly believe that China is accelerating the development of next-generation nuclear weapons.

According to CNN on the 21st (local time), U.S. intelligence agencies assess that China is pursuing a strategy to elevate its nuclear weapon systems to the most technologically advanced level in the world.

China has possessed nuclear weapons since 1964.

While its total inventory is smaller compared to those of Russia and the United States, analysts suggest that China is actively modernizing its nuclear forces with an eye toward strategic competition with the U.S.

In particular, the U.S. believes that China has embarked on the development of low-yield tactical nuclear weapons, along with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) systems capable of carrying several small nuclear warheads on a single missile.

Some analysts suggest that this may be an attempt to expand China's leverage to pressure the U.S. and Western nations amid the crisis surrounding Taiwan.

The basis for this assessment lies in activities detected at the Lop Nur nuclear test site in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The U.S. reportedly views a magnitude 2.75 explosion detected at the Lop Nur site in June 2020 as a nuclear test.

Christopher Ford, Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, recently stated, "Analysis of additional data shows that the patterns are inconsistent with mining blasts or natural earthquakes."

The assessment is that the experiment was conducted for the purpose of modernizing nuclear weapons.

The U.S. also reportedly obtained intelligence that China had been preparing for further tests.

In response, China has denied the U.S. intelligence, stating, "We are prepared to cooperate with all parties to jointly uphold the authority of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and safeguard the nuclear disarmament regime."

The CTBT, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1996, prohibits all nuclear testing to prevent the development of nuclear weapons and the improvement of existing ones.

However, it is reported that China continues to reject the Donald Trump administration's demands to participate in a new nuclear disarmament agreement.

Some suggest that the U.S. may have released information about China's secret nuclear test from six years ago to shape public opinion ahead of President Trump's scheduled visit to China in April.

Observers speculate that the Trump administration is seeking to pressure China to join nuclear disarmament negotiation tables.

Alex Gray, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a U.S. think tank, stated, "If China does not participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations, the United States has no need to blindly cling to outdated disarmament concepts that fail to reflect new threats."