China Tests Its First Atomic Bomb as Khrushchev Falls (1964)
On October 19, 1964, Beijing entered the nuclear age with the detonation of its first atomic bomb just eleven hours after the ouster of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, marking a profound shift in global power dynamics. Reporting from Beijing, L’Express documented the quiet dawn arrival via the Shanghai train, where the capital’s streets hummed with … Read more