Top News: Possible Chinese nuclear testing stirs U.S. concern Wall Street Journal Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian’s regular press conference Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China U.S. may be prepping site in Nevada to test nukes, Russian diplomat warns TASS United States Adherence to and compliance with arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament agreements and commitments U.S. Department of State4/16/20 Pursuant to statute (22 U.S.C. § 2593a), the U.S. Department of State prepares a report providing a detailed assessment of the adherence of the United States and other nations to obligations undertaken in all arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament agreements or commitments to which the United States is a participating state. Nuclear-missile crews pull longer tours in virus-hit Air Force Bloomberg4/15/20 Air Force personnel manning nuclear missile silos in the U.S. heartland are performing rotations as long as 14 days. Fighter pilots on alert for immediate defense of the U.S. are kept in near-isolation. East Asia Possible Chinese nuclear testing stirs U.S. concern Wall Street Journal4/15/20 China might be secretly conducting nuclear tests with very low explosive power despite Beijing’s assertions that it is strictly adhering to an international accord banning all nuclear tests, according to a new arms-control report to be made public by the State Department. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian’s regular press conference Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China4/16/20 In recent years, the US has been making the so-called Compliance Report annually, posturing as a judge or referee to criticize other countries’ arms control and non-proliferation measures and style itself as a “model”. OPINION: U.S. accuses North Korea of cyberattacks, a sign that deterrence is failing New York TimesDavid Sanger, Nicole Perlroth 4/15/20 Through the attacks, a report says, the North steals and launders money, extorts companies and uses digital currencies to gain cash for its nuclear program PODCAST: Tracking the PLA Rocket Forces Arms Control Wonk4/15/20 The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Forces used to be a nearly opaque organization to all but a few open-source researchers. Russia and Europe U.S. may be prepping site in Nevada to test nukes, Russian diplomat warns TASS4/16/20 The diplomat stressed that Russia did not take any actions violating its obligations on banning nuclear tests Russian diplomat rejects U.S. accusations of Moscow’s violation of nuclear test ban TASS4/16/20 Russia did not take any actions violating its obligations on banning nuclear tests, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS on Thursday. Multilateral Arms Control How nuclear forces worldwide are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsJohn Krzyzaniak 4/14/20 In recent weeks, the coronavirus outbreak has elicited at least a few tone-deaf comments from top US defense officials about the readiness of their nuclear forces.