Chinese scientists Sunday commemorated the 40th anniversary of
the country's first test of a hydrogen bomb, and called for greater
self-confidence and self-reliance in the development of new
high-technologies.
China's first hydrogen bomb was tested in the desert of west
China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region on June 17, 1967.
The successful test startled the world as it took only two years
and eight months for China to develop the hydrogen bomb after it
tested its first atomic bomb in October, 1964, said Li Yingxiang,
former head of the general office of the Ministry of Nuclear
Industry.
Seventy-year-old Wang Jingheng, former head of China's first
nuclear weapons research and production base in northwest Qinghai
Province, recalled their tough conditions at the base more than 40
years ago.
More than 10,000 people worked at the base and natural disasters
in other parts of the country in the early 1960s made it difficult
to get enough food for his crew, Wang said.
"We lived in cave dwellings, ate qingke barley (a highland
barley grown in Tibet and Qinghai), and our only vegetable was
cabbage. When there was not enough food, we had to search for
edible wild herbs to feed ourselves," Wang added.
Li urged today's Chinese leaders and scientists to have the same
confidence as those working on the bomb did four decades ago.
"Remembering the history of developing the first hydrogen bomb
is of great significance to today's scientific research," said
Li.
"While Chinese researchers have much better conditions and work
in an international environment, the spirit of self-reliance and
arduous struggle, should be carried on," Li said, adding that
"China must develop its own high-tech with our own intellectual
property right."
Kang Rixin, general manager of China National Nuclear
Corporation, said: "Learning from the experience of developing
China's first atomic and hydrgen bombs, we should mainly rely on
ourselves for the development and innovation of key nuclear
technologies."
Compared with developed countries, China's nuclear power
generating industry is still small scale and at a relatively low
level, Kang said.
"We should shoulder the historic responsibility to develop the
basic and key technologies of the nuclear power industry," Kang
added.
(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2007)