Since the birth of New China, it has relied on the hard work of countless people, and one of them has played a crucial role in the development of China's nuclear industry, that is, General Zhang Aiping, former minister of national defense and commander-in-chief of the two-bomb and one-satellite project, and this person, in addition to playing an important role in China's nuclear weapons development, has also firmly defended China's national interests abroad. During the honeymoon between China and the United States, Zhang Aiping led the Chinese delegation to visit the United States, and when she visited the US State Department, she resolutely refused to resolutely safeguard the interests of the motherland in the face of unreasonable demands and threats from US officials. After returning to China, he took the initiative to hand over a letter of resignation to Comrade Deng Xiaoping to explain his experience in the United States, and Comrade Deng Xiaoping rejected his resignation request and greatly praised his behavior.
In the 1980s, with the relaxation of Sino-US relations, China and the United States began to send mutual delegations to visit to deepen ties between the two countries, and the head of the delegation sent by the Chinese side was Zhang Aiping, who was then serving as defense minister, because of the changes in the international situation at that time, the United States attached great importance to the visit of the Chinese delegation, and in order to show sincerity, the United States specially arranged for Zhang Aiping to visit the Pentagon in Washington and meet with then US President Reagan. A certain consensus was reached on technical exchanges and economic cooperation projects that the two sides are concerned about.
But the whole visit was not smooth sailing, just as Zhang Aiping and the Chinese delegation visited the State Department and exchanged views on sino-US nuclear technology cooperation, US Secretary of State Schultz accused China of violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, secretly providing assistance to Pakistan in the development of nuclear weapons, and claimed that Chinese had been found in Pakistan's bases and factories responsible for producing nuclear equipment, so the first negotiations broke down, and the second negotiation a few days later. The U.S. secretary of state again raised the issue of China's assistance in developing nuclear weapons for Pakistan, and left on his own after handing over the next negotiations to the accompanying deputy secretary of state.
The deputy secretary of state did even more excessively, he took out the minutes of the last negotiation and asked the Chinese delegation to sign the minutes to prove the authenticity of the minutes, in the face of the refusal of the Chinese representatives, the US deputy secretary of state replied with a threat, saying that if the Chinese side does not express its position on the Pakistan issue, then the next cooperation on nuclear technology will become very difficult, and I hope that the Chinese side will be mentally prepared. But Zhang Aiping, who had a hot temper, did not eat this set at all, directly threw the minutes of the meeting on the table, solemnly expressed the attitude of the Chinese government and expressed regret for today's events, and then left the State Council with the Chinese delegation, leaving the stunned US Deputy Secretary of State Dam.
Zhang Aiping's dialogue with the US secretary of state at the US State Department has triggered extensive reports in US newspapers, and some newspapers have even described Zhang Aiping's behavior as a big fuss about the US State Department, but in the end, the cooperation agreement between China and the United States was determined without any obstacles, and the reason why the US side wanted to do such an act was because of the temptation of China. In the 1980s, the soviet offensive and U.S. defensive situation had just eased, and in order to ensure their own security, China and the United States did not hesitate to choose to ease relations and conduct technical exchanges to cope with the pressure from the Soviet Union.
But in 1980, Pakistan successfully tested a ballistic missile and announced to the world two years later that it had the technology to make a nuclear bomb, although Pakistan did not really detonate a nuclear bomb to prove this to the world at that time, but the possibility that the nuclear non-proliferation treaty could be broken made the world nervous, especially for the United States, because the United States turned to India in the Third Indo-Pakistani War and did not support Pakistan, causing Pakistan to begin to fall to China's side. This has caused the United States to influence the South Asian subcontinent to a lower level.
However, there are often exchanges of fire between India and Pakistan, and Pakistan, as a weaker side of the country, has nuclear weapons at the moment, and it is difficult to guarantee that it will not launch nuclear bombs at India in a hurry, thus triggering a third world war or nuclear war. Therefore, the United States can only try to test Pakistan through various means, try to understand how Pakistan actually possesses nuclear weapons, and intends to use them, and among the five countries that clearly possess nuclear weapons at that time, Pakistan's relations with the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France have become very poor because of the Third India-Pakistan War, and only China and Pakistan have maintained good relations.
Therefore, the Americans will force China to help Pakistan in its nuclear weapons research in front of Zhang Aiping, and Zhang Aiping herself is the commander-in-chief of the two-bomb and one-satellite project, and from the perspective of the Americans, no one is more suitable to answer this question than Zhang Aiping, so she will do so in the formal talks.
In the talks of the State Department, US Secretary of State Schultz and Deputy Secretary of State Damm both handed over the minutes of the meeting to the Chinese delegation for signature, and if the content of the discussion is not considered, it is very legitimate to ask for signature, because only in this way can the authenticity of this meeting record be proved, but if Zhang Aiping signed the minutes of the meeting at that time, it became a chip for the United States to blackmail China.
Because this meeting record, in addition to other conversations, also records the conversation between the US secretary of state and Zhang Aiping on pakistan's nuclear weapons issue, once Zhang Aiping signs and confirms this record, then the United States can use this record to threaten China, such as by displaying this meeting record, to prove to the world that China has helped Pakistan in nuclear weapons research, and to negotiate privately with the United States on this matter. If that happens, it will be one of the worst mistakes China has made in international diplomacy, and at the same time the biggest scandal.
Although the plan failed, the United States still needed China to share the pressure of the Soviet Union, so the Americans left this matter behind the day after the state council incident and signed a technical cooperation agreement with China, and the Chinese delegation also successfully completed the mission and returned home honorably. And Zhang Aiping's performance in this visit also made Comrade Deng Xiaoping praise him endlessly, for no other reason than him, it was Zhang Aiping's vigilance that allowed China to successfully escape the trap set by the Americans once again.