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China conducts nuclear test, then wants changes in treaty

 
Published July 30, 1996|Updated Sept. 16, 2005

China conducted a nuclear test Monday and promised that it would be its last.

China is the last acknowledged nuclear weapons power to declare a moratorium on testing. Western diplomats welcomed the announcement, which coincided with the resumption Monday in Geneva of crucial talks on completing a draft treaty for a worldwide ban on nuclear tests.

But the leading Chinese negotiator at the 61-nation disarmament conference, Sha Zukang, surprised other delegations Monday by saying that China would press for changes in the treaty. Although he gave no details, diplomats said the provisions in question govern verification procedures to monitor possible violators.

Elsewhere . . .

BUJUMBURA, Burundi _ The military killed at least 50 people in central Burundi over the weekend, apparently in response to a Hutu rebel attack on the area, in the first reported massacre since Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army carried out a coup last Thursday.

GENEVA _ Women in rich and poor countries alike are paid 25 percent less than men doing the same job, the International Labor Organization reported Tuesday. Women also run a higher risk of unemployment and have little success reaching top management posts.

MONTREAL _ Police are searching for 1.5-million $2 Canadian coins after thieves last week entered a railroad yard in central Montreal during the day, found the semitrailer truck carrying the coins and drove off.