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The United States government was aware of Soviet support of a Chinese nuclear program, but after the Soviets withdrew support in 1959, some U.S. officials underestimated the sole capability of China to develop a nuclear weapon, and were surprised when China's efforts proved successful.
- 16 October 1964
- Lop Nur Test Base
Jul 19, 2018 · The Chinese nuclear program was aided by its considerable access to Western atomic secrets. For example, China may have benefited from the defection of American physicist Joan Hinton in 1948 (Reed and Stillman 87). Hinton had worked on the “Fat Man” plutonium implosion bomb at Los Alamos and witnessed the Trinity Test.
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May 3, 2024 · China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing is on track to amass 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, up from around 200 in 2019, according to Pentagon estimates. This nuclear buildup, combined with China’s broader investments in modernizing its armed forces, has caused deep concern in Washington.
Apr 7, 2018 · The development of China’s nuclear arsenal was influenced by several factors: Mao’s thoughts on military technology and nuclear weapons, the leaders’ nationalist attitude, the strategic situation of China in the 1950s—during which Beijing’s policymakers experienced the risk of nuclear blackmail in repeated international crises (Korea, Indochina,...
- Paolo Rosa
- paolo.rosa@unitn.it
- 2018
June 2021. By Gerald C. Brown. In its recent annual threat assessment, the U.S. intelligence community described how China is pursuing “the most rapid expansion and platform diversification of its nuclear arsenal in its history” and is intending to “at least double the size of its nuclear stockpile during the next decade.”
Aug 5, 2021 · Geopolitics Drives China’s Modernization. For decades, China has worried about how U.S. military capabilities—like missile defense and conventional precision strike weapons—could undermine the credibility of China’s capacity to retaliate against a nuclear attack.
Oct 13, 2021 · China’s nuclear program started at the height of Sino-Soviet cooperation. A comprehensive agreement between the two states, signed in 1957 (on October 15), promised a wide range of cooperation, including — at least in Mao’s understanding — the pledge of a prototype nuclear warhead and detailed plans for how to manufacture one.
