中國深山之中，一個核武復興正在成形（2/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

China Nuclear Site (Credit: The NYT)

Deep in China’s Mountains, a Nuclear Revival Takes Shape (2/2)

Satellite imagery of secretive nuclear facilities reveals Beijing’s efforts to expand its arsenal, just as the last global guardrails on nuclear weapons vanish

The NYT - By Chris Buckley and Agnes Chang

 Feb. 15, 2026

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The sites in Sichuan were built six decades ago as part of Mao Zedong’s “Third Front,” a project to shield China’s nuclear weapons production labs and plants from strikes by the United States or the Soviet Union.

Tens of thousands of scientists, engineers and workers labored in secret to carve into the mountainous interior what Danny B. Stillman, an American nuclear scientist who visited the area, later called, in a coauthored book, “an inland nuclear empire.”

When China’s tensions with Washington and Moscow subsided in the 1980s, many “Third Front” nuclear facilities closed or shrank, and often their scientists moved to a new weapons lab in the nearby city of Mianyang. Sites like Pingtong and Zitong continued operating, but change in the years that followed was piecemeal, reflecting China’s policy then of keeping a relatively small nuclear arsenal, said Dr. Babiarz.

That era of restraint faded from about seven years ago. China began rapidly building or upgrading many nuclear weapons facilities, and construction at the sites in Sichuan also accelerated, Dr. Babiarz said. The buildup includes a vast laser ignition lab in Mianyang that could be used to study nuclear warheads without detonating actual weapons.

The design of the Pingtong complex suggests that it is being used to make the pits of nuclear warheads — the metal core, usually containing plutonium — according to Dr. Babiarz. He noted that its architecture was similar to that of pit making facilities in other countries, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States.

In Zitong, the new bunkers and ramparts are likely being used to test “high explosives,” experts say, referring to the chemical compounds that detonate to create the conditions for a chain reaction in nuclear materials.

“You have a layer of high explosives and the shock wave at the same time implodes into the center. This needs blast tests to perfect them,” said Hui Zhang, a physicist who researches China’s nuclear programs at the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University, who examined Dr. Babiarz’s findings.

The complex includes an oval area about the size of 10 basketball courts.

The precise objective of these upgrades remains a subject of debate. Dr. Zhang said satellite imagery alone offers limited information. “We don’t know how many warheads have been produced, but we just see the plant expansion,” he said.

Some of the recent changes may simply reflect upgrades for safety, said Dr. Zhang, the author of a new book, ‘The Untold Story of China’s Nuclear Weapon Development and Testing.’ Chinese nuclear engineers may also need more facilities and test areas at Zitong to modify warhead designs for new weapons, such as submarine-launched missiles, he said.

One major concern for Washington is how this larger, more modern arsenal might change China’s behavior in a crisis, particularly over Taiwan.

China wants to be “in the position where they believe they’re largely immune from nuclear coercion by the United States,” said Michael S. Chase, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for China who is now a senior political scientist at RAND. “I think they probably judge that could come into play in a conventional conflict over Taiwan.”

Translation

中國深山之中，一個核武復興正在成形（2/2）

衛星影像顯示，北京正試圖擴充其核武庫，此時，全球核武的最後一道阻止欄已不復存在。

（繼續）

四川的這些設施建於六十年前，是毛澤東「第三戰線」計劃的一部分，旨在保護中國的核武生產實驗室和工廠免受美國或蘇聯的打擊。

數萬名科學家、工程師和工人秘密地在四川山區開墾出一片土地，正如曾到訪該地區的美國核科學家Danny B. Stillman後來在與人合著的一本書中所說的 “內陸核帝國” 。

Babiarz博士說，1980年代，隨著中國與華盛頓和莫斯科的緊張關係緩和，許多「第三戰線」的核設施關閉或縮減規模，其科學家通常被轉移到附近Mianyang市新建的武器實驗室。Pingtong和Zitong等設施繼續運行，但隨後幾年的變化是零星的，這反映了當時中國保持相對較小的核武庫的政策。

這種克制的時代大約在七年前結束。Babiarz博士表示，中國已開始快速建造或升級眾多核武設施，四川的建設速度也顯著加快。這些設施包括Mianyang一座規模龐大的雷射點火實驗室，該實驗室可用於在不引爆實際武器的情況下研究核彈頭。

Babiarz博士指出，Pingtong綜合設施的設計表明，它正被用於製造核彈頭的彈芯 - 通常含有鈽的金屬核心。他提到該設施的建築結構與其他國家的彈芯製造設施類似，包括美國洛斯阿拉莫斯國家實驗室。

專家表示，在Zitong，新建的掩體和圍牆很可能用於測試“高爆炸藥”，這裡指的是能夠在核材料中引爆以產生連鎖反應條件的化學化合物。

曾審閱Babiarz博士的研究成果的哈佛大學甘迺迪政府學院的研究中國核子計劃的物理學家Hui Zhang說道:「核彈頭有一層高爆炸藥，衝擊波同時會向中心內爆。這需要透過爆炸試驗來完善」。

該設施包括一個橢圓形區域，面積約相當於10個籃球場。

這些升級的具體目的仍有爭議。Zhang博士表示，因只有衛星影像故提供的資訊有限。 他說:「我們不知道已經生產了多少枚核彈頭，我們只看到工廠在擴建中」。

Zhang博士是新書《中國核武研發與實驗秘史》的作者，他表示，最近的一些變化可能只是反影為了提高安全性。他還說，中國核子工程師可能還需要在Zitong建造更多的設施和試驗場地，以便改善新型武器例如潛射飛彈的彈頭設計。

華盛頓的主要擔憂之一是，中國擁有規模更大、更現代化的核武庫，這可能會在危機發生時，尤其是在台灣問題上，改變中國的行為。

RAND高級政治學家、前美國國防部負責中國事務的副助理部長Michael S. Chase表示，中國希望「讓自己相信已處於一種基本不受美國核脅迫的位置」; 「我認為他們可能認為，在圍繞台灣的常規衝突中這會發揮作用」。

So, in valleys of southwest China is accelerating its nuclear buildup. One such valley is known as Zitong while the other valley is Pingtong. The precise objective of these upgrades remains a subject of debate. One major concern for Washington is how this larger, more modern arsenal might change China’s behavior in a crisis, particularly over Taiwan. Some US experts think China wants to be in the position where they believe they’re largely immune from nuclear coercion by the United States, and believes that position could come into play during a conventional conflict over Taiwan. Apparently, China is updating its nuclear arsenal.