The People’s Republic of China joined the nuclear club on October 16, 1964, when it detonated a 22-kiloton nuclear device at its Lop Nur test site as part of Project 596. The bomb utilized 15 kilograms of weapons-grade Uranium-235, producing an explosive yield roughly equivalent to the U.S. “Fat Man” nuclear weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945. The Chinese nuclear program was initially supported by the Soviet Union; however, the Soviets withdrew their assistance and advisors in 1960 due to the Soviet-Sino split that year. Under Mao Zedong, the Chinese continued the program, leveraging the information, education, and equipment left behind by the Soviets to independently develop the bomb. China's subsequent nuclear policy diverged from the nuclear arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States that intensified in the 1960s and 1970s. However, it now appears that China is pursuing a nuclear weapons buildup to challenge the dominance of the U.S. and Russia.

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