HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT<\/strong><\/p>\nIn 1949 People\u2019s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers entered\u00a0Eastern Tibet. In the spring of 1950, China\u2019s \u201c18th Army\u201d\u00a0invaded Tibet through Dartsedo (Ch. Kanding) in the east,\u00a0and through Amdo in the northeast. The \u201c14th Division\u201d\u00a0entered through Dechen in southeast Tibet. After occupying\u00a0Kham and Amdo, the advance party of the \u201c18th Army\u201d\u00a0reached Lhasa on 9 September 1951, followed by the unit\u2019s\u00a0main force on 26 October 1951. This was only the beginning\u00a0of the vast Chinese military build up in Tibet, which continues\u00a0to this day (DIIR 1996c).<\/p>\n
The first known nuclear weapon was brought onto the\u00a0Tibetan Plateau in 1971 and installed in the Tsaidam (Ch.\u00a0Qaidam) Basin in northern Amdo (Ch. Qinghai). China is\u00a0currently believed to have 17 secret radar stations, 14 military\u00a0airfields, eight missile bases, at least eight ICBMs, 70 mediumrange\u00a0missiles and 20 intermediate range missiles in the whole\u00a0of Tibet (DIIR 1998; DIIR 1996c).<\/p>\n
The Ninth Academy<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Northwest Nuclear Weapons Research and Design\u00a0Academy, known as the \u201cNinth Academy\u201d\u00a0or \u201cFactory 211,\u201d was built by the Ninth\u00a0Bureau of the Chinese Nuclear\u00a0Production Establishment in the early\u00a01960s to produce China\u2019s early nuclear\u00a0bomb designs. It is China\u2019s top secret\u00a0nuclear city located in Tsojang (Ch.\u00a0Haibei) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture\u00a0in Amdo, 100 km west of Siling (Ch.\u00a0Xining).<\/p>\n
The construction of the Ninth\u00a0Academy was approved by the late\u00a0Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, who was\u00a0then the General Secretary of the Central\u00a0Committee of the Chinese Communist\u00a0Party. The Ninth Academy is situated at\u00a036.57 N, 101.55 E, with an elevation of\u00a010,000 ft (3,033 m) above sea level, 10\u00a0miles (16.1 km) east of Lake Kokonor,\u00a0and lies in a watershed which drains into\u00a0the Tsang Chu River (Ch. Xichuan-he). This becomes the\u00a0Machu (Yellow River). In the late 1970s the Ninth Academy\u00a0further established a chemical industry institute to conduct\u00a0experiments on reprocessing highly enriched uranium fuels.\u00a0Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the Ninth Academy\u00a0operated under emergency conditions to build China\u2019s nuclear\u00a0weapons capability. An unknown quantity of radioactive\u00a0waste in the form of liquid slurry as well as solid and gaseous\u00a0waste was dumped by the Academy. The disposal of waste\u00a0was haphazard and their record-keeping dismal. Initially\u00a0radioactive waste was dumped in shallow and unlined landfills\u00a0(Ackerly 1993a; ICT 1993).<\/p>\n
According to the official China news agency, Xinhua, in a\u00a0report dated 20 July 1995, the Ninth Academy was\u00a0decommissioned in 1987 and the base was moved to sites in
\nSichuan Province in Eastern Tibet. However, Tibetans living\u00a0near the Ninth Academy informed the Tibetan Governmentin-\u00a0Exile in 1996 that Chinese security personnel still secretly\u00a0guard the Ninth Academy around the clock.<\/p>\n
A direct railway line connects the Academy with Lake\u00a0Kokonor, the largest lake on the Tibetan Plateau. Nuclear\u00a0waste experts believe that radioactive waste was also dumped\u00a0into the lake. A reliable report from a Chinese man whose\u00a0father was a nuclear scientist in Lanzhou, Gansu, states that\u00a0in 1974 there was an accident leading to nuclear pollution\u00a0of the lake (ICT 1993). The Ninth Academy is located on\u00a0marshy land allowing polluted water and radioactive particles\u00a0to easily seep into the groundwater, which flows into Lake\u00a0Kokonor.\u00a0Massive road networks access military installations\u00a0Lake Kokonor is sacred to Tibetans. Throughout history\u00a0they have protected the natural beauty and sanctity of this\u00a0lake through sustained spiritual practices and ecological\u00a0respect. The principle lama of Rebgong Monastery in Amdo,\u00a0Je Kalden Gyatso, has explained: \u201cToday the island at the\u00a0centre of Lake Kokonor is called the abode of Maha Dewa\u00a0(Lord Shiva). It has historical connections with Tibet\u2019s great\u00a0king Songtsen Gampo and also Guru Rinpoche\u00a0(Padmasambhava). It is the abode of klu (beings who inhabit\u00a0water bodies) and jangchub sempa (bodhisattvas). It is a
\npilgrimage site for many kings and saints\u201d (Palbar 1994).<\/p>\n
Anti-Frigate Missile Centre at Drotsang![\"Untitled-1](\"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Untitled-1-copy1-300x83.jpg\")
<\/strong>
\nA new missile production centre is located at Drotsang (Ch.\u00a0Ledu; 36.05N, 102.5E), 63 km east of Siling. The secret\u00a0code number of this centre is 430. It was originally set up in\u00a01986 and was massively expanded in 1995. It is a surrogate\u00a0of the Ninth Academy and has been producing anti-frigate\u00a0missiles which are being tested in Lake Kokonor (Chutter\u00a01998).<\/p>\nLand-Based Nuclear Warheads<\/strong>
\nWhen Major-General Zhang Shaosong, the Political\u00a0Commissar of the PLA in Tibet, was asked point-blank\u00a0whether there were nuclear weapons in Tibet by the BBC\u2019s\u00a0Mark Braine in 1988, he replied, \u201cWhether there are nuclear\u00a0weapons in Tibet or not, it is up to the authorities to decide.\u201d\u00a0And he smiled (Kewley 1990).<\/p>\nTsaidam\u2019s Nuclear Missile Launch Sites<\/strong>
\nThe Ninth Academy was ready to produce nuclear weapons\u00a0by 1971. The first batch of nuclear weapons manufactured\u00a0at the Ninth Academy was reportedly brought to Tsaidam\u00a0Basin and stationed at Small Tsaidam (Ch. Xiao Qaidam)\u00a0and Large Tsaidam (Ch. Da Qaidam) in the extremenorthwest of Amdo province (Ch. Qinghai). Tsaidam Basin\u00a0is known to be one of most advantageous deployment sites\u00a0for China because of its high altitude and isolation. China\u00a0established the nuclear missile deployment and launch site\u00a0for DF-4 missiles in the Tsaidam Basin in the early 1970s.<\/p>\nThe Large Tsaidam site located in northern Tibet (37.50N\u00a0and 95.18E) has two missiles stored horizontally in tunnels\u00a0near the launch pad. Fuel and oxidizers are stored in separate\u00a0tunnels with lines to the launch pad (Fieldhouse 1991).\u00a0According to various reports, a launch site for Dong Feng\u00a0Four (DF-4) missiles, which are equivalent to Russia\u2019s CSS-\u00a02, was built in Tsaidam. These missiles, located at Large\u00a0Tsaidam and Small Tsaidam (37.26N, 95.08E), are reported\u00a0to have a range of over 4,000 km placing the whole Indian\u00a0sub-continent within striking distance.\u00a0The DF-4 is China\u2019s first intercontinental ballistic missile.\u00a0During the 1970s its range was extended from 4,000 km to\u00a07,000 km allowing the modified version now deployed on\u00a0the Tibetan Plateau to target Moscow and the rest of the\u00a0former Soviet Union (Fieldhouse 1991).
\nThe Small Tsaidam site in Northern Tibet is presumably\u00a0organised in a similar way to the Large Tsaidam deployment\u00a0and launch site. The missiles were moved to these sites on\u00a0the Tibetan Plateau in 1971 (Lewis & Xue 1988). According\u00a0to diplomatic sources informing the International Campaign\u00a0for Tibet (ICT) in Washington DC, nuclear missiles are\u00a0stationed in Small Tsaidam and are only moved to Large\u00a0Tsaidam in times of emergency.<\/p>\n
Terlingkha Nuclear Missile Launch Site<\/strong>
\nAnother nuclear missile launch site is located at Terlingkha\u00a0(Ch. Delingha; 36.6N, 97.12E), 217 km southeast of\u00a0Tsaidam. It houses DF-4 and Inter-Continental Ballistic\u00a0Missiles (ICBM). Terlingkha is the missile regiment\u00a0headquarters for Amdo which consists of four associated\u00a0launch sites. The organisation of the sites are similar to Large\u00a0Tsaidam (Chutter 1998; ICT 1993).<\/p>\nNew Long Range Missile Division<\/strong>
\nA new nuclear missile division has also been established on\u00a0the Tibetan Plateau on the border between Qinghai and\u00a0Sichuan provinces, in the Tibetan province of Amdo. Four\u00a0CSS-4 missiles are deployed here, which have a range of\u00a08,000 miles (12,874 km), capable of striking the UnitedStates, Europe and anywhere in Asia. Amdo Province is\u00a0home to four Chinese nuclear missile launch sites, two at\u00a0Tsaidam, one at Terlingkha and one at the border between\u00a0Amdo and Sichuan Province (Chutter 1998).<\/p>\nUnderground Base at Nagchuka<\/strong>
\nIn the 1970s numerous reports surfaced regarding the\u00a0stockpiling of nuclear weapons. These reports also\u00a0confirmed that in 1970 missile base construction work had\u00a0started about 10 miles (16.1 km) north of Nagchuka (Ch.\u00a0Nagqu), in the \u2018Tibet Autonomous Region\u2019 and that there\u00a0was a considerable build up of Chinese military personnel\u00a0in the area.\u00a0On 14 October 1987, an article in the Sydney-based\u00a0national newspaper The Australian reported the presence of\u00a0nuclear missiles at Nagchuka. Subsequently, the Australian\u00a0Nuclear Disarmament Party, in a press release dated 28\u00a0October 1987, expressed its grave concern over the\u00a0intermediate-range ballistic (IRBM) and medium-range\u00a0missiles (MRBM) stationed in Nagchuka.\u00a0Tashi Chutter\u2019s book, Confidential Study on Deployment of\u00a0Chinese Occupational Force[s] in Tibet, published in 1998\u00a0confirms that there are nuclear missiles permanently stationed\u00a0at Nagchuka. The missiles are housed in underground\u00a0complexes beneath Risur mountain, 25 km southeast of\u00a0Nagchuka. The Risur site has reportedly been developed by\u00a0the Chinese government for two major reasons; to provide\u00a0an alternative to the Lop Nor nuclear test site in Eastern\u00a0Turkestan (Ch. Xinjiang) and to store as well as test China\u2019s\u00a0upgraded air defence missiles and nuclear weapons. Nagchuka\u00a0is reported to have the largest airforce unit stationed at any\u00a0secluded site.<\/p>\nRocky Funnels House Missile Base<\/strong>
\nLike the Risur site, another missile base is located at Tagho\u00a0Mountain (Tib. Horse-Head Mountain) in the remote valley\u00a0(32.15N, 89.42E) of Pelok, which lies to the east of Nyima\u00a0Dzong under Nagchuka administrative division of \u2018TAR\u2019.\u00a0Missiles possibly of a nuclear nature are reportedly stored\u00a0in the underground rocky tunnels of Tagho Mountain. The\u00a0entire region is described as a desolate desert where only\u00a0military vehicles are allowed to enter (Chutter 1998).<\/p>\nUnderground Missile Storage Near Lhasa<\/strong>
\nDhoti Phu is located 3.5 km to the northwest of Drapchi\u00a0Prison and one kilometre to the west of Sera Monastery. It\u00a0came into existence between the late 1960s and 1970s. It\u00a0was observed that occasionally 20 to 25 trucks loaded with\u00a0elongated objects wrapped in canvas cloth were seen enteringthe storage site. The movement of these vehicles took place\u00a0only at night. The sophisticated underground storage complex\u00a0of Dhoti Phu reportedly contains missiles known as di dui\u00a0kong (ground-to-air) and di dui di (surface-to-surface). In\u00a0Lhasa during Chinese Army Day (1 August), a number of\u00a0missiles of these types were displayed to the public on missile\u00a0guiding vehicles (Chutter 1998).<\/p>\nMissiles Complex in Kongpo<\/strong>
\nA large underground missile storage facility is located near\u00a0Payi Town in Nyingtri (Ch. Nyingchi) region of Kongpo,\u00a0\u2018TAR\u2019 under the secret code number 809 (Ch: Pa Ling Jue).\u00a0It is controlled by the Chengdu Military Logistic Division.\u00a0Supplies are brought in by the 17th, 18th and 20th Transport\u00a0Regiments from Chengdu and some supplies are also brought\u00a0in from Lhasa. A few low ceilinged barracks were noticed\u00a0near the foothill of a mountain in Payi where there is an\u00a0entrance leading to an underground storage complex. Long\u00a0convoys of military trucks belonging to the transport\u00a0regiments have been observed entering the storage facility.\u00a0When fresh supplies arrive at the facility, storage complex\u00a0drivers replace the regular drivers inside the complex.<\/p>\nIt is reported that ground-to-air and surface-to-surface\u00a0missiles are stored at this site. During mock military exercises\u00a0a large number of such missiles are taken out of this\u00a0complex. At one time about 80 missiles were observed. They\u00a0were mounted on 20 trucks, each truck carrying four missiles.\u00a0Each missile measured about one and a half times the length\u00a0of the trucks and some had fins. During these exercises,\u00a0missiles were launched vertically and horizontally to hit prearranged\u00a0targets (Chutter 1998).<\/p>\n
Airbases with Nuclear Weapons<\/strong>
\nThere are three types of aircraft in China currently available\u00a0for nuclear bombing missions: the Hong-6 bomber, the Hong-\u00a05 bomber, and the Qian-5 attack jet. The Hong-6 has a\u00a0combat radius of over 3,000 km and can reach targets in\u00a0the former Soviet Union and India. The Hong-5 has a combat\u00a0radius of 1,200 km (Fieldhouse 1991).<\/p>\nDuring the 1960s and 1970s the three main military\u00a0airbases in Tibet were in Lhasa, Chabcha and Golmud.\u00a0During the 1960s, Chabcha and Golmud airfields were used\u00a0as refuelling stations for Chinese aircraft on their way to\u00a0Tibet and the Indian border. The Gongkar airfield, located\u00a097 km southwest of Lhasa, has been the main military airfield\u00a0and the main supply centre for the Chinese forces in the\u00a0border area.<\/p>\n
At Shigatse military airport, four or five IL-28 bombers\u00a0were deployed with some jetfighter aircraft. Military transport\u00a0aircraft such as the AN-32 and the Russian made IL-18\u00a0were noticed in frequent operations at the airport. Every\u00a0autumn, these bombers carried out bombing exercises at a\u00a0place known as Logma Thang, 50 km west of the airport.\u00a0During the rest of the year the aircraft practice flight\u00a0manoeuvring exercises (Chutter 1998).<\/p>\n
A classified Pentagon report quoted by The Washington\u00a0Times states that missile launch complexes in Jianshui, near\u00a0the China-Vietnam border and at Datong in Amdo are\u00a0equipped with CSS-2 and CSS-5 launchers that can hit targets\u00a0which cover \u201cmost of India\u201d. Other targets include Russia,\u00a0Japan and Taiwan, as specified in a classified study prepared\u00a0by the National Air Intelligence Centre (NAIC). According\u00a0to the NAIC report, China now has about 40 CSS-2 re-fire\u00a0capable launchers at six field garrison and launch complexes.\u00a0The launchers at Datong missile garrison can target Russia\u00a0as well as India. The CSS-2 training sites have also been\u00a0observed by US spy satellites in nearby Haiyan.<\/p>\n
![\"Untitled-1](\"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Untitled-1-copy2-300x184.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRussia is selling 100 advanced artillery systems with\u00a0precision guided shells to China in secret arms deals, including\u00a0modern aircraft, destroyers and other high-tech arms. China\u00a0purchased some 50 SU-27 flanker warplanes from Russia\u00a0and has plans to purchase 250 more of the jets by 2005.\u00a0The SU-27s will be fitted with AA-11 air-to-air missiles, a\u00a0very effective radar guided rocket with electronic countermeasure\u00a0pods (The Tribune 5 July 1997).\u00a0It is evident that China is modernising its nuclear weapons\u00a0and developing multiple warhead missiles. The Chinese now\u00a0have intercontinental nuclear capability. Intercontinental\u00a0ballistic missiles can reach most of the USA, according to\u00a0General Habiger, Commander of the US Strategic\u00a0Command.<\/p>\n
General Habiger added that China\u2019s new\u00a0intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM)\u00a0include the DF-31, a road-mobile missile with\u00a0a range of more than 4,500 miles (7,242 km),\u00a0and a second new ICBM with a range of\u00a0more than 7,000 miles (11,265 km) (The\u00a0Tribune 3 April 1998).\u00a0China continues to violate the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty\u00a0of 1963. It exploded an underground nuclear device at Lop\u00a0Nor test site in Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang), directly north\u00a0of Tibet, on 17 August 1995, and thereafter it exploded\u00a0two nuclear bombs on 8 June 1996, and 29 July 1996.<\/p>\n
China\u00a0has so far exploded 45 nuclear bombs since its detonation\u00a0of an atomic bomb in 1964 at Lop Nor. China\u2019s 45th nuclear\u00a0explosion of 29 July 1996 came just a few hours before\u00a0delegates sat down to negotiate the final stage of the\u00a0Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) at the United\u00a0Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.\u00a0China has land, sea and air-based missiles, nuclear missiles\u00a0on submarines, and it continues to develop various smaller\u00a0nuclear warheads. These nuclear warheads are loaded onto\u00a0a multiple warhead missile, thereby greatly enhancing its\u00a0ballistic capability. China\u2019s total nuclear power is estimated\u00a0to be 16,000 times greater than the atomic bomb dropped\u00a0on Hiroshima (20,000 kilotons of TNT) which killed\u00a0140,000 people in Japan. Yet China claims it needs more\u00a0tests to ensure the safety of its nuclear devices (DIIR 1996a).<\/p>\n
CNN World News on 7 April 1998 announced that\u00a0France and the United Kingdom ratified the Comprehensive\u00a0Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to prevent international nuclear\u00a0proliferation for a nuclear-free world. China is one of the\u00a0nuclear states in the world, along with the US and Russia,\u00a0who are yet to ratify the CTBT. China signed the Nuclear\u00a0Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1992.<\/p>\n
However, no matter what is signed or declared on the\u00a0international stage, China evidently does not comply or yield\u00a0ground. No country dares to upset the Asian giant for fear\u00a0of losing its lucrative trade. Tibet and its people, because of\u00a0their \u201ccrime\u201d of not being represented at the United Nations,\u00a0continue to suffer humiliation as many countries of the world\u00a0indulge in double-talk about international norms of good\u00a0conduct. These nations continue to ignore nuclear\u00a0proliferation on the Roof of the World.<\/p>\n
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TIBET holds a unique position among the countries of the\u00a0world. Not only does its territory cover the highest plateau\u00a0on the planet, but also Tibet, alone among all nations, chose\u00a0to abandon the path of aggression and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nuclear-threats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":808,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789\/revisions\/808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tibetnature.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a><\/p>\n