Although official ideology regarded the West with hostility and suspicion, the policy of “catch up and overtake” focussed attention on Western technological development as the path to be followed. This policy reflected a deep-rooted consciousness of backwardness vis-à-vis the West, and a determination to overcome that backwardness. The atomic bomb was a powerful symbol of the United States’ position as the economic and technological leader of the world. It was therefore a natural goal for the policy of “catch up and overtake” to pursue.
