[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 40 (Monday, October 11, 1993)]
[Page 2012]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement by the Press Secretary on Nuclear Testing by China

 October 5, 1993

    Last night, China conducted an underground nuclear test at the Lop 
Nur test site in northwest China, despite the urging of more than 20 
nations, including the United States, not to do so.
    The United States deeply regrets this action. We urge China to 
refrain from further nuclear tests and to join the other nuclear powers 
in a global moratorium. Such a moratorium will contribute to the 
achievement of the administration's goal of completing a Comprehensive 
Test Ban by 1996, to which the administration is committed.
    The President has today directed the Department of Energy to take 
such actions as are needed to put the U.S. in a position to be able to 
conduct nuclear tests next year, provided the notification and review 
conditions of the Hatfield-Exon-Mitchell amendment are met in the spring 
of 1994.
    The President's ultimate decision on whether to test will be based 
on fundamental U.S. national security interests, taking into account:
    --the contribution further tests would make to improving the safety 
      and reliability of the U.S. arsenal in preparation for a 
      Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTB);
    --the extent to which China and others have responded to the U.S. 
      appeal for a global moratorium on testing;
    --progress in the CTB negotiations;
    --the implications of further U.S. nuclear tests on our broader 
      nonproliferation objectives.
    Administration officials will begin consultations at once with 
Congress and our allies on these issues.