Would this jeopardise the complex international N-test monitoring system proposed by the Clinton administration?
No. It was already known that seismographs cannot detect very small tests. The CTBT verification procedures and instruments were internationally agreed, and are based on the presumption of consent and the possibility of inspections. What reasons do you attribute for most nations not coming down heavily on China’s 45 N-tests, sanctions, blockades, whatever, but quickly attacking smaller nations like India and Pakistan when they move into this area? Do you think the NPT and/or the CTBT is discriminatory and unfair in these respects? China started its nuclear tests in the middle of the Cold War. There were tests all over the place, the US, Soviets, French and UK. Most nations condemned all of them, but could do nothing given the Cold War. After China’s 1996 nuclear tests, some countries did impose limited sanctions. If the implication of the question is why the US behaved differently, then the answer is that the 1994 law used to impose sanctions on India only applies to non-nuclear weapon
