Resources on ChinaChina's Nuclear TestingBeginning with its first test on 16 October 1964, China conducted a total of 45 nuclear weapon tests -- 23 atmospheric and 22 underground -- ranging in yield from about 1 kiloton to about 4 megatons. China first tested underground on 23 September 1969. China's largest atmospheric test was 4 MT, conducted on 17 November 1976; its largest underground test was 660 kT, conducted on 21 May 1992. China has conducted all of its nuclear weapons testing at Lop Nur, typically in the late spring and early fall. China frequently points out that, of the declared nuclear powers, it has conducted by far the smallest number of nuclear tests, stating that it has "all along exercised utmost restraint on nuclear testing." ["Statement Of The Spokesman Of The Foreign Ministry Of The People's Republic Of China," 17 August 1995.] China has reportedly tested 15 different warhead types: 4 with yields less than 20 kT; 4 with yields of 20-150 kT; and 7 with yields of 150 kT-4 MT. China's has traditionally been reluctant to participate in the international regimes restricting nuclear testing. It originally criticized the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), which bans atmospheric testing, as a "fraud" designed to preserve the superpowers' nuclear monopoly. However, although China has not signed the PTBT, it has been in de facto compliance with the treaty since its last atmospheric nuclear test on 16 October 1980. On 21 March 1986, China stated that it had not conducted atmospheric testing for years and announced a permanent end to its above-ground testing. China did not, however, indicate an intention to dismantle the technical capability to conduct such tests. China says that its atmospheric testing did not cause any radioactive harm to the neighboring countries downwind of China, or to its regions of Beijing, Lanzhou, or Dunhuang, based on over 20 years of surveys. China has also not signed or stated its adherence to the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT) (which restricts underground test yields to below 150 kt), but has been in de facto compliance with the treaty since its 660 kT explosion on 21 May 1992. China was also originally reluctant to participate in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Initially China insisted that it would agree to a CTBT only in exchange for no-first-use pledges from the other nuclear powers, and only in the context of general nuclear disarmament. Later, China dropped these conditions, but objected to the CTBT's ban on peaceful nuclear explosions (PNEs) and legitimization of the use of national technical means (NTM) for verification. After conducting an underground nuclear test on 29 July 1996 (its 45th test), China began a self-imposed moratorium on testing, effective 30 July 1996. [Statement of the Government of the People's Republic of China, 29 July 1996.] On 24 September 1996, China signed the CTBT, even though the treaty draft both banned PNEs and allowed NTM. China insisted that the PNE ban be reviewed after 10 years, that NTM not be abused to infringe on Chinese sovereignty, and that the CTBT be considered only a first step toward more general disarmament. Some speculate that China wanted to delay a testing moratorium until in could complete its latest round of tests. Officially, China declared in 1994 that these tests were geared toward designing warheads with safety features, such as insensitive high explosives (IHE). Other Chinese sources indicate that these tests were also intended to modernize Chinese nuclear weapons in other areas as well, including the development of an MRV or MIRV capability and to develop new warheads for China's next-generation solid-fuel ICBMs. [Sources: Dingli Shen, "The Prospects For A Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: Implications Of Chinese Nuclear Testing," AAAS, 1994, pp. 272-273; Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume 5, pp. 420-421; Vipin Gupta, "Assessment Of The Chinese Nuclear Test Site Near Lop Nor," Jane's Intelligence Review, August 1993, p. 380; Vipin Gupta, "The Status Of Chinese Nuclear Weapons Testing," Jane's Intelligence Review, January 1994, p. 34; "Known Nuclear Tests Worldwide, 1945-1993," The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May-June 1994, p. 62; "China Increases Test Total Before Treaty," Jane's Defence Weekly, 8 April 1995, p. 3; "Nuclear Notebook," The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May 1993, p. 49; Robert S. Norris, "French And Chinese Nuclear Weapon Testing," Security Dialogue, March 1996, p. 49; Cap Zhi and Li Dawei, "Nuclear Test Suspension: Monumental Peace Initiative," Beijing Review, 2-8 December 1996, p. 18.] For more background on China's testing program, see:
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