China has ‘underground wall’ to protect nuclear weapons from potential attacks

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ China has built an “Underground Steel Great Wall” below the mountains to hide its nuclear weapons from the potential attacks, said a top Chinese defence scientist who recently received the country’s highest defence award from President Xi Jinping.            

Qian Qihu, 82, said China’s “underground steel Great Wall” could “guarantee the security of the country’s strategic arsenal” against potential attacks, including those from future hypersonic weapons.          

Qian, an academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told that the “Underground Steel Great Wall” is a series of defence facilities located deep under mountains.

While the mountain rock is thick enough to resist enemy attacks, entrances and exits of these facilities are often vulnerable and Qian’s work was to provide extra protection for these parts.  China’s nuclear strategy follows the principle of “no first use” and requires the country to have the capability of withstanding a nuclear attack before it responds with its strategic weapons.