Friday, October 16, 1964: China's first nuclear test

Communist China joined the world's atomic powers today with an announcement it has exploded its first bomb in the western region of China. The announcement, coming less than 24 hours after the ouster of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, was sure to raise China's Mao Tse-Tung's stature among world Communist leaders. The official New China news agency statement said only: "China exploded an atom bomb at 1500 hours on Oct. 16, 1964, and thereby conducted successfully its first nuclear test."

     -- Associated Press (full story: @)

* Story from New York Times: @

* Summary from CTBTO Preparatory Commission: @

* Summary from Federation of American Scientists: @

* Summary from Nuclear Threat Initiative: @

* Summary and links from The National Security Archive: @ 

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