History of the People's Republic of China |
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Chinaportal |
Two Bombs, One Satellite (Chinese :两弹一星; pinyin :liǎng dàn, yī xīng) was a nuclear weapon, intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and artificial satellite development program by the People's Republic of China. China detonated its first fission and first thermonuclear weapons in 1964 and 1967 respectively, combined a nuclear weapon with a surface-to-surface missile in 1966, and successfully launched its first satellite in 1970. [1] [2]
In the 1940s and 1950s, a group of notable scientists including Qian Weichang, Qian Xuesen, Deng Jiaxian, Peng Huanwu and Qian Sanqiang returned to mainland China. [3] [4] [5]
United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower's threats during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis to use nuclear weapons against military targets in Fujian province prompted Mao to begin China's nuclear program. [6] : 89–90 In January 1955, Mao Zedong expressed the intention of developing atomic bombs during a meeting of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party. [7]
In 1956, hundreds of experts were called by Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi, Li Fuchun and Nie Rongzhen to make plans for China's scientific development, eventually creating an outline of development for the period from 1956 to 1967 (1956-1967年科学技术发展远景规划纲要). [8]
In 1958, Mao formally announced the development of nuclear bombs, missiles and satellite. [7]
At the same time, the Soviet Union had provided China with important assistance since 1955, even though on December 10, 1957, the Soviet Union proposed that the United States, the United Kingdom, and the USSR should halt nuclear weapons tests for the next two to three years, to which China supported. [9] [10] [11]
In 1956, the Third Ministry of Machinery Building was established, and nuclear research was conducted at the Institute of Physics and Atomic Energy in Beijing. A gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant was constructed in Lanzhou. In 1957, China and the USSR signed an agreement on sharing defense technology that involved a prototype boosted fission weapon being supplied by Moscow to Beijing, technical data, and an exchange of hundreds of Russian and Chinese scientists. [12] [13] A joint search for uranium in China was conducted between the two countries. A location near Lake Lop Nur in Xinjiang was selected to be the test site with its headquarters at Malan. Construction of the test site began on 1 April 1960, involving tens of thousands of laborers and prisoners under tough conditions. [14] It took four years to complete. Being the sole site for nuclear testing in China for years to come, the Lop Nur test site underwent extensive expansion and is by far the world's largest nuclear weapons test site, covering around 100,000 square kilometers. [15]
Sino-Soviet relations worsened in the late 1950s. [16] [17] The Soviet Union withdrew the delivery of a prototype bomb [11] and over 1,400 Russian advisers and technicians involved in 200 scientific projects in China meant to foster cooperation between the two countries. [16]
After Nikita Khrushchev decided to stop helping the Chinese with their nuclear program on 20 June 1959, Mao shifted toward an overall policy of self-reliance. Project 596, named after the month of June 1959, was initiated as an independent nuclear project. The Second Ministry of Machine Building Industry, which oversaw China's nuclear industry, continued with the development of an atomic bomb. [13] By 14 January 1964, enough fissionable U-235 had been successfully enriched from the Lanzhou plant. On 16 October 1964, a uranium-235 fission implosion device, weighing 1550 kilograms was detonated on a 102-meter tower. [14]
In 1961–62, there was a disagreement among senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government on whether China should continue with the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" project. [18] Eventually, in November 1962, a central committee led by Zhou Enlai, Nie Rongzhen and others was established, and the project was carried on. [14] [18]
In 1966, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution. Academics and intellectuals were regarded as "Stinking Old Ninth" and were widely persecuted. [14] In 1968, among the leading scientists who worked on the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program, Yao Tongbin was beaten to death, Zhao Jiuzhang committed suicide, [19] [20] and Guo Yonghuai was killed in a plane crash. [21] By September 1971, more than 4,000 staff members of China's nuclear center in Qinghai were persecuted. More than 310 of them were permanently disabled, over 40 people committed suicide, and five were executed. [22] Many researchers with overseas education background (especially from the United States and the United Kingdom) were regarded as "spies". [23] Only a few scientists including Qian Xuesen were protected in the Revolution because of a special list made by Premier Zhou Enlai (approved by Mao) in August 1966. [14]
Ultimately, China developed the atomic and hydrogen bombs in record time. [29] : 218
After the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping became the new paramount leader of China and started the "Boluan Fanzheng" program. Scientists and intellectuals were rehabilitated and, in particular, Yao Tongbin was honored as a "martyr". [30] Deng emphasized that knowledge and talented people must be respected, and the wrong thought of disrespecting intellectuals must be opposed. [31]
In 1986, four leading scientists who had worked on the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program proposed to Deng that China must stimulate the development of advanced technologies. Upon Deng's approval, the "863 Program" was launched. [32]
In 1999, twenty-three scientists who had made significant contributions in the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program were awarded the Two Bombs and One Satellite Merit Award (Chinese:两弹一星功勋奖章). [33] [34] In 2015, the "Two Bombs, One Satellite Memorial Museum" was opened on the Huairou campus of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. [35]
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance, yield, and effects of nuclear weapons. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by different conditions, and how personnel, structures, and equipment are affected when subjected to nuclear explosions. However, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength. Many tests have been overtly political in their intention; most nuclear weapons states publicly declared their nuclear status through a nuclear test.
Qian Xuesen was a Chinese aerospace engineer and cyberneticist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineering cybernetics. He achieved recognition as one of America's leading experts in rockets and high-speed flight theory prior to his returning to China in 1955.
The nuclear arms race was an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War. During this same period, in addition to the American and Soviet nuclear stockpiles, other countries developed nuclear weapons, though no other country engaged in warhead production on nearly the same scale as the two superpowers.
The People's Republic of China has developed and possesses weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and nuclear weapons. The first of China's nuclear weapons tests took place in 1964, and its first hydrogen bomb test occurred in 1966 at Lop Nur. Tests continued until 1996, when the country signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), but did not ratify it. China acceded to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1984 and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997. Since 2020, China has been wielding a nuclear triad, alongside four other countries.
Zhou Guangzhao was a Chinese theoretical physicist who served as President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences from 1987 to 1997.
The T-7 was China's first sounding rocket. A test rocket, dubbed the T-7M, was first successfully launched on 19 February 1960 in Nanhui, Shanghai, and a full-scale rocket was launched on 13 September 1960. Wang Xiji of the Shanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering was the chief designer. Twenty-four T-7 rockets were launched between 1960 and 1965, and it was retired after a final launch in 1969.
Pokhran-II was a series of five nuclear weapon tests conducted by India in May 1998. The bombs were detonated at the Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. It was the second instance of nuclear testing conducted by India, after the first test, code-named Smiling Buddha, was conducted in May 1974.
Qian Sanqiang, also known as Tsien San-Tsiang, was a Chinese nuclear physicist and among the leading scientists of the Two Bombs, One Satellite program. Due to his central role in the development of China's nuclear industry and nuclear weapons program, he is referred to as the "father of China's atomic bomb". Coincidentally, China's first atomic bomb test was conducted on Qian's 51st birthday.
Project 596 was the first nuclear weapons test conducted by the People's Republic of China, detonated on 16 October 1964, at the Lop Nur test site. It was a uranium-235 implosion fission device made from weapons-grade uranium (U-235) enriched in a gaseous diffusion plant in Lanzhou.
Test No. 6 is the codename for China's first test of a three-staged thermonuclear device and, also its sixth nuclear weapons test. It was a part of the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program.
Deng Jiaxian, also spelled as Chia-Hsien Teng, was a Chinese theoretical physicist, nuclear physicist, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and member of the Central Committee of the Jiusan Society. Deng Jiaxian graduated from the National Southwestern Associated University of the Republic of China, then went to the United States to study, and received a doctorate in physics from Purdue University in 1950. Deng Jiaxian made significant contributions to the development of the atomic bomb of the People's Republic of China and was honored as the "Patriot of the Two Bombs". In 1999, he was named the "Patron of the Two Bombs and One Star" by the Chinese government.
Cheng Kaijia, also known as Kai Chia Cheng, was a Chinese nuclear engineer and nuclear physicist. He was a pioneer and key figure in Chinese nuclear weapon development. He is known as one of the founding fathers of Two Bombs, One Satellite.
Zhu Guangya was a Chinese nuclear physicist. Zhu Guangya was noted for his dedication to the Chinese nuclear development, and his great devotion to his country.
China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP) was founded in October 1958. The CAEP is China's main organization conducting the research, development, and testing of nuclear weapons and related science.
Yu Min was a prominent Chinese nuclear physicist. He was an academic of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a lead nuclear weapon designer in the Ninth Academy, and a recipient of Two Bombs, One Satellite Achievement Medal. Though he personally refused to accept the title, he is honored as “the father of [the] Chinese Hydrogen Bomb”.
Chen Nengkuan, or N. K. Chen, was a Chinese metallurgist and material scientist. He was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the 23 founding fathers of China's Two Bombs, One Satellite (两弹一星元勋).
Ren Xinmin was a Chinese aerospace engineer and a specialist in astronautics and liquid rocket engine technology. He was the technical director of the Long March 1 rocket, which launched the Dong Fang Hong I, China's first satellite, and the chief designer of Chinese storable propellant rocket engine. He was also the chief designer for the Long March 3 launch vehicle, Fengyun, and SJ (Shijian) series satellites.
Yang Jiachi was a Chinese aerospace engineer and a specialist in satellite control and automation. A participant in the development of China's first satellites and the developer of the attitude control system for recoverable satellites, he was awarded the Two Bombs, One Satellite Meritorious Medal in 1999. He was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the International Academy of Astronautics. The asteroid 11637 Yangjiachi is named after him.