In September, Britain officially adopted the U.S. position as well. Russia got on the zero-yield bandwagon in late October after Boris Yeltsin met with Clinton in Hyde Park, New York, during the U.N.'s fiftieth anniversary celebration. Russia had been hoping to allow tests up to 10 tons and to exempt tests in contained vessels. But Moscow was not in a strong position to go it alone, and its concerns may have been met with promises of Western assistance. According to a senior Russian diplomat, Moscow believes that to maintain its arsenal it must have an expensive stockpile stewardship program like the one the United States is planning, or conduct low-yield tests.
China is now odd man out.
But this position may be a delaying tactic, not a genuine desire to conduct these explosions. It is not clear what, if anything, will get China to cooperate. As a result, Beijing may be a significant hurdle. The only viable strategy may be isolation-completing the treaty and putting China in the uncomfortable position of blocking consensus. Once the Conference on Disarmament approves the CTB, the other weapons states might sign the treaty without China.