On the 60th anniversary of the nation’s first atomic weapon test, experts trace how policy, politics and purpose laid the foundation for China’s nuclear might. Sixty years ago, in the remote Lop Nur desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, China successfully detonated its first atomic bomb, code-named “Miss Qiu”. The test, on Oct 16, 1964, and the fission chain reaction it triggered, melted the top half of a 120m high iron tower. It was a pivotal moment in China’s pursuit of nuclear