Question:

1.What factors influenced China’s decision to acquire nuclear weapons in 1964? Are these factors still present today in China’s nuclear strategy?

Answer:

Nuclear weapons in China

Introduction

China started developing nuclear weapons as early as during the late 1950s, and these efforts involved substantial assistance from the Soviet Union. The withdrawal of soviet assistance in China’s nuclear plans greatly contributed to the latter country’s decision to acquire nuclear weapons in 1964. Prior to 1960, this assistance included the provision of a vast variety of equipment and advisors. However, Sino-Soviet relations started turning sour, a trend that peaked in 1964. At this time, the Soviet Union withheld all plans and data for the development of an atomic bomb. This paper assesses the factors that contributed to China’s decision to start nuclear development and whether these factors still exist today.

The factors

To start with, China was determined to break the monopoly of superpowers on nuclear weapons (Gill, 2000). This largely explains why the country went on with plans to acquire nuclear weapons even after Soviet Union’s withdrawal of plans and experts. This was a crucial way of ensuring Chinese security against threats from the United States and the Soviet Union, thus increasing the country’s power and prestige internationally.

China conducted the first nuclear test in 16 October 1964 at Lop Nor, a feat that could not have been achieved if China did not have at its disposal a number of technological choices for making these weapons. The greatest source of influence for the decision to pursue this nuclear capability was the nuclear threats the US posed to China in the course of the Korean War, and later on during the crisis over the islands of Matsu and Quemoy (Manning, 2006). Although the crisis over these islands no longer exists, the Korean crisis remains unresolved, with the US supporting South Korea and China maintaining the position of a staunch ally of North Korea.

Conclusion

In Summary, China pursued its nuclear strategy mainly to safeguard her national interests, mainly by increasing its power and prestige internationally. Moreover, China hoped that these weapons would increase its influence in the Korean crisis, where it was supporting the North against the South, which had the backing from the nuclear-armed US.

References

Gill, B. (2000) Foreign and Domestic Influences on China’s Arms Control and Nonproliferation Policies, The China Quarterly 161(2), 66-94.

Manning, R. (2006) China, Nuclear Weapons, and Arms Control: A Preliminary Assessment, Chairmen’s Report of a roundtable jointly sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Defense University, and the Institute for Defense Analyses.