PROJECT 596: THE BOMB THAT MILITARISED CHINA'S XINJIANG

The event remains a paradox: a moment of national triumph for Beijing, yet a story of displacement, radioactive fallout, and enduring coercion imposed by the People’s Liberation Army.

- ASHISH SINGH

China's its first atomic bomb test in 1959. File photo

On 16 October 1964, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) detonated its first atomic bomb at Lop Nur in Xinjiang, under the secretive codename Project 596. The test catapulted Beijing into the global nuclear club, reshaping Asian geopolitics.

But beneath the narrative of “catching up with the superpowers,” the human and environmental costs were borne by Xinjiang’s Uyghur and Kazakh populations, who became silent victims of a programme that militarised their homeland.

The event remains a paradox: a moment of national triumph for Beijing, yet a story of displacement, radioactive fallout, and enduring coercion imposed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Communist Party's instrument of power projection.

PROJECT 596: A MILITARY FIRST, NOT A CIVILIAN ACHIEVEMENT

China's atomic bomb programme began in the 1950s with Soviet assistance, though Moscow withdrew support in 1959 amid the Sino-Soviet split. Determined to pursue nuclear independence, Beijing prioritised the project under Mao Zedong. By 1964, despite famine and economic chaos, resources were funnelled into building the bomb.

The decision to test in Lop Nur, Xinjiang, was not coincidental. Isolated deserts made it a convenient site from Beijing's perspective, but for local populations, it meant forced displacement and exposure to radiation.

Villages in the vicinity were never informed of the risks, and many communities were later erased to secure the test zone.