Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

In Miguel de Cervantes' masterpiece Don Quixote, the delusional knight-errant charges across the plains to fight windmills, mistaking them for malevolent giants. Today, certain forces in Washington are adding a new, dangerous layer of absurdity to this tale, casting the US as a modern-day Don Quixote - or as we might call it, "Don Qui-nuke."

Following the recent expiration of the New START treaty - the last major nuclear arms control agreement between the US and Russia - Washington and some US media have launched a fresh wave of smears against China's nuclear policy. From an assistant secretary of state's unfounded allegations of a "massive expansion" at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, to a US undersecretary's claims about a "secret nuclear test" by China, to the Wall Street Journal's "alarmism" regarding China's supposed "Manhattan Project-like effort to develop a more fearsome nuclear arsenal," these absurd attacks continue to escalate. Such narratives attempt to fabricate a "Chinese nuclear conspiracy," creating a threat that exists only in the strategic imaginations of the accusers.

This "tilting at windmills" serves a clear, calculated purpose: to use the narrative of "non-transparency" as a pretext to force China into trilateral arms control negotiations with the US and Russia. However, the significant disparity in nuclear capabilities means that negotiation conditions cannot be equal. It is neither fair nor reasonable to demand China's participation in nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage. With both the US and Russia possessing arsenals exceeding 5,000 warheads each - as reported by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons - they operate in a vastly different league compared to China. The US, sitting on a substantial nuclear arsenal, bears primary responsibility for nuclear disarmament. To demand that China join trilateral discussions under such vast disparities is a cynical attempt to constrain China's legitimate self-defense capabilities.

The focal point of these recent charges is an alleged "secret nuclear test" on June 22, 2020. To add credibility to this claim, US officials have concocted elaborate technical theories, alleging that China employed "decoupling" to reduce the detectability of its nuclear tests. This is a striking example of "Quixotic logic" - akin to the reasoning Cervantes' knight used to claim that "evil enchanters" transformed giants into windmills to rob him of his glory.

However, the facts tell a different story. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, the world's definitive watchdog, unequivocally stated that its global monitoring system detected no signals consistent with a nuclear explosion during that period. Consequently, the accusation falls flat.

This "paranoid gaze" overlooks China's consistent nuclear strategy of self-defense. As Chinese Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs Shen Jian articulated in Geneva on Monday, in the face of a complex and severe international security landscape, China upholds a philosophy of arms control that is just, cooperative, balanced, and effective. China firmly supports the purpose and objectives of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and urges the US to reaffirm the commitment of the five nuclear-weapon states to a moratorium on nuclear testing and to uphold the global consensus on banning nuclear tests.

Ultimately, the malicious smears from Uncle Sam, the "Don Qui-nuke," attempt to seek legitimacy for its own nuclear ambitions. According to The New York Times, within just five days of the New START treaty's expiration, Washington signaled its intent to deploy more nuclear weapons and expressed readiness to resume nuclear testing of some kind. By conjuring a "giant Chinese windmill," Washington attempts to obscure its own destabilizing actions - restarting nuclear testing and maintaining its dominance in nuclear arms - under the guise of a "knight's crusade" for peace. This is more than mere rhetoric; it represents a calculated act of strategic blackmail.

It is difficult to fathom the peril the world would face should this blackmail succeed. Moreover, in the original novel, Don Quixote eventually awakens from his delusion on his deathbed, realizing that the giants were merely windmills. One must wonder: Will the US ever awaken from its dream and recognize that upholding the global consensus on banning nuclear tests does not require a mad "knight" wildly swinging his sword at the windmill?