The atomic bomb first appeared in America. Because of its great lethality to mankind, it can affect international peace and become the most critical issue among international nuclear-armed countries. As nuclear powers, China and the United States have experienced a tortuous process in the impact of the atomic bomb on the 60-year relationship between the two countries, and the atomic bomb has become a key factor in determining the direction of the relationship between the two countries.
Throughout the impact of the atomic bomb on Sino-US relations, it can be divided into three stages:
The first stage is from 1949- 1964. Due to ideological differences, the United States adopted political isolation, containment, economic blockade and sanctions against New China, and invaded and expanded around China, posing a serious threat to China's security interests. In this process, the United States has an atomic bomb, but China does not. The United States, on the side of absolute superiority, wantonly brandished a nuclear stick and made a naked nuclear threat. From 1950, the year after the birth of New China, the Korean War began, and the United States publicly declared that it would drop 20-30 atomic bombs on the border between China and North Korea to prevent volunteers from entering the DPRK. Since China did not have an atomic bomb, it adopted the strategy of winning the support of the Soviet Union to master the atomic bomb and launched a tit-for-tat struggle with the United States, and the relationship between the two countries was in a state of sharp opposition.
The second stage is 1964- 1978. 1964, under the guiding ideology of "breaking nuclear blackmail", China successfully exploded the first atomic bomb, which shocked the world. In the following ten years, he quickly mastered the key technologies such as hydrogen bomb, aircraft throwing and launch vehicle throwing, completely broke the nuclear monopoly, balanced the relations between the two countries, and the United States lost its absolute dominant position. At the same time, the relationship between the two countries began to ease because of the need to deal with the threat of the Soviet Union. At this stage, Sino-US relations not only began to end confrontation, but even broke the ice to establish diplomatic relations. The atomic bomb is the decisive factor in this situation. Chairman Mao once said, "An atomic bomb is such a big thing, but without it, others will not talk to you."
The third stage is from 1979- now. Because both China and the United States have a series of nuclear weapons, such as atomic bombs, their war capabilities are relatively balanced, and they are committed to cooperative nuclear non-proliferation. Especially 199 1 after the end of the cold war, non-proliferation has become an important issue in Sino-US relations. Due to the increasing interests of China and the United States in preventing atomic bombs and nuclear proliferation trends, the two countries have carried out a series of cooperation on non-proliferation issues. Because it involves the fundamental interests of the two countries, the ups and downs of Sino-US relations have played a positive role during this period.
So far, the atomic bomb, as the "anchor needle" in the most important relationship in the world, is also the most critical factor, and it can be expected to maintain a stable state of "maintaining balance" and "preventing proliferation" for a long time.