China’s anti-nuclear ‘wall’

BEIJING: An “underground steel great wall” for missile bases located under China’s mountains can withstand attacks from nuclear and hypersonic weapons, a scientist who built the structure has said.

Qian Hu, 82, called the steel wall China’s last line of defence and inseparable part of the country’s “no first strike” nuclear doctrine. Attached to both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Qian this month received the 2018 State Supreme Science and Technology Award, the country’s top award in the field. In an interview to state media, Qian said if attacked with nuclear or futuristic hypersonic weapons, the protective wall will give China the ability to retaliate.

Calling China’s nuclear and missile arsenal “spears”, Qian said the development of the shield was an important follow-up to developing weapons.

“The development of the shield must closely follow the development of spears. Our defence engineering has evolved in a timely manner as attack weapons pose new challenges,” Qian told the Global Times.

“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,” the report said.

“If other lines of defence including the strategic missile interception system, anti-missile system and air defense system fail to function against hypersonic missiles and recently developed bunker-busters, Qian’s work can still thwart such attacks,” it added.