During the Georgian Information Crisis in 2004, the U.S. government suspected the People's Republic of China as having aligned themselves with Georgia against the United States, sparking a diplomatic crisis that threatened to push the two nations into World War III. It was alleged that China was providing weapons to Georgia and producing nuclear weapons despite the existence of numerous treaties, a charge China vehemently denied. When word of the executions reached the U.S., relations with China worsened, threatening to bring about the outbreak of World War III.