Stalin and the Bomb

by David Holloway

On January 15, 1955, however, Mao finally decided that China should build its own atomic bomb.64 The Chinese decision was a response to American threats, explicit and implicit, to use nuclear weapons against China.65 It also betrayed a lack of faith in the ability or willingness of the Soviet Union to use its nuclear weapons to defend Chinese interests. China nevertheless expected Soviet help in building up its nuclear research base. On January 17, two days after the Chinese decision, the Soviet Council of Ministers decided to help China and other socialist countries develop nuclear research for peaceful purposes. Three days later the Soviet Union and China signed an agreement to undertake joint exploration for uranium in China; China agreed to sell any surplus uranium to the Soviet Union.66 On April 27, 1955 the two countries signed an agreement under which the Soviet Union was to supply China with an experimental nuclear reactor, a cyclotron, and the “necessary quantity of fissionable material.”