US and China join forces to keep nuclear material from Nigeria out of the hands of terrorists
- The mission, which included cooperation from six nations, moved highly enriched uranium from a reactor in the state of Kaduna
- The reactor was believed to be a possible target of terrorist groups
The United States and China reportedly collaborated to remove nuclear material from Nigeria last year – even at a time of growing military rivalry between the two countries – to minimise the risk of having the material fall into the hands of terrorists.
Nuclear experts from the US, China, Britain and Norway, as well as Czech and Russian contractors, worked together to remove highly enriched uranium from a research reactor in Kaduna region of Nigeria that was increasingly believed to be vulnerable to a terrorist attack, the US-based Defence News website reported this month. China played a crucial role by transporting and storing the uranium.
The operation took place in October, just hours after US President Donald Trump made an explicit threat to China about expanding the US nuclear arsenal.
Trump suggested that China’s growing nuclear stocks had contributed to his decision to pull out of the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the US and Russia, which banned short and medium-range nuclear and conventional missiles. Withdrawing from the pact would allow the US to deploy missile systems in Asia to counter China, military experts said.
Speaking with reporters on October 22, Trump said “until people come to their senses, we will build [our nuclear arsenal] up. It’s a threat to whoever you want. And it includes China, and it includes Russia, and it includes anybody else that wants to play that game.”
Regardless of those tensions, Elsa Kania, an adjunct fellow specialising in US-China relations and Chinese military modernisation at the Centre for a New American Society, said, “the two countries clearly have deep understanding and alignment in pursuing mutual interest in nuclear safety”.
