Publication Laka-library:
Chinese Nuclear Weapons. A current & historical overview (1991)
| Author | R.W.Fieldhouse |
| Date | March 1991 |
| Classification | 4.07.0.00/02 (CHINA - GENERAL) |
| Front | 
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From the publication:
Page ii NWD 91-1 Chinese Nuclear Weapons: A Current and Historical Overview Preface Twenty-six years ago, on October 16, 1964 China detonated its first nuclear device and became the fifth nation to join the so-called nuclear club, along with the U.S.A., the U.S.S.R., the U.K. and France. Despite its nuclear membership of more than a quarter century, and despite its remarkable history as a nuclear weapon power, China's nuclear forces remain the least studied and least understood of the five acknowledged nuclear weapon nations. This is due primarily to the secrecy surrounding Chinese nuclear weapon developments-especially concerning current forces; the traditionally closed nature of China to outside observers; and the Western preoccupation with the U.S.S.R as its primary nuclear and security threat. There are only two primary sources of reliable information about Chinese nuclear weapons and related developments: the Chinese Government and the U.S. Government. Over the past 30 years China has not released much detailed information on its military and nuclear forces; until the mid- 1980s such information was secret. Until the full normalization of U.S.-Chinese relations in the early 1980s the U.S. military and intelligence communities provided annual updates on the state of Chinese nuclear forces in its regular reports to Congress. (1) Since then the quantity and quality of publicly available information from the U.S. Government has diminished drastically, virtually to the point of ignoring the topic. This has led to a considerable difficulty in obtaining reliable data on Chinese nuclear forces. Only recently has detailed information become available from China about the history of its nuclear weapon program, much of it declassified by the Chinese government. Two important works have opened the field to further study and debate: China Today: Nuclear Industry, the official history of China's nuclear industry, and the excellent work of John Wilson Lewis and Xue Litai, China Builds the Bomb. (2) Additional historical information is emerging that will provide a solid basis for understanding the origins and development of China's nuclear weapon and related programs. (1) These included the Secretary of Defense's Annual Report to Congress, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Military Posture Statement, and the annual intelligence community testimony at the Joint Economic Committee hearings on the Allocation of Resources in the Soviet Union and China. (2) China Today: Nuclear Industry (Dangdai Zhongguo De Hegongye) (also known as "Modern China's Nuclear Industry") is one of the volumes in the China Today series of official histories. It is edited by the China Today Series Editorial Committee. The editors and contributors include leading figures in China's nuclear industry, such as Li Jue, who directed major aspects of the nuclear weapon program. John Wilson Lewis and Xue Litai, China Builds the Bomb (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988) provides the first comprehensive synthesis of information made available by Chinese authorities about the history of their nuclear weapon program. Professor Lewis is working on additional volumes.
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