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China nuclear

test blasts

still useful

BEIJING: China, the only nuclear power that has not yet halted its test programme, believes nuclear explosions are a peaceful use of such energy, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

The door to nuclear explosions should not be closed because many experts still differed on the safety of the technology, spokesman Shen Guofang told a news briefing.

"We believe nuclear explosions are one of the ways mankind makes peaceful use of nuclear energy," he said.

"In fact, experts on nuclear matters still have differing views on this matter. Therefore we believe that the door to nuclear explosions should not be closed, at least for now," Shen said.

Beijing has resisted pressure to join an international testing moratorium, saying China's 43 tests to date were a fraction of those by the United States and other powers.

Shen declined to comment on whether China's role in international nuclear non-proliferation would be raised when Russian President Boris Yeltsin meets Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing on Wednesday.-Reuter