[Диско] Красное солнце светит на границе [紅太陽照邊疆] | Проект Китая «Две бомбы, один спутник»

【 Let «The East is Red» reverberate throughout the cosmos 】

In 1964, more than a hundred thousand scientific researchers and military personnel left their hometowns to construct the experimental base for China’s nuclear weapons programme in Lop Nur, Xinjiang. They made their way to the vast expanse of northwest China, where they would develop the country’s first atomic and hydrogen bombs. Nine out of ten of them were below the age of 35.

The living conditions were extremely harsh. In the summer, the temperature rose as high as 60 degrees. Winds were strong enough to destroy tents and pebbles caught up in it could shatter windshields. Water was so scarce that what they used to wash their faces had to be kept until the evening for their feet, and then saved for laundry later.

Two Bombs, One Satellite was an early nuclear and space project of China directed by Premier Zhou Enlai under Chairman Mao’s call: “We too shall create satellites”. The “Two Bombs” refers to the atomic bomb (and later the hydrogen bomb) and the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), while the “One Satellite” refers to the artificial satellite.

At 3 PM on 16 October 1964, China detonated its first atomic bomb, sending shockwaves across the world. At 9 AM on 27 October 1966, a nuclear-integrated Dongfeng-2 medium-range ballistic missile was launched. At 8:20 AM on 17 June 1967, China successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb. At 9:35 PM on 24 April 1970, the Changzheng-1 rocket carried the satellite Dongfanghong-1 into space.

The success of the Two Bombs, One Satellite programme remains a historic milestone in the Cultural Revolution and the development of China’s scientific frontier. Additionally, it cemented China’s sovereignty, self-sufficiency and capacity to withstand imperialist aggression.

Song: “The Red Sun Shines on the Frontier” — Wangshucao

“The Red Sun Shines on the Frontier” [Chinese: 紅太陽照邊疆; Korean: 붉은 태양 변강 빛추네] was written in 1966 by Han Yun-ho and composed by Kim Pong-ho, both natives of Hwaryong in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, northeast China. The song, originally sung in Korean, extols the high spirits of the Yanbian people in developing the socialist nation’s borderlands.

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