Taiwan's Former Nuclear Weapons Program: Nuclear Weapons On-Demand

Albright, David; Stricker, Andrea

ISBN 10: 1727337336 / ISBN 13: 9781727337334

Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018

About this Item

Print on Demand.

Seller Inventory # I-9781727337334

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Taiwan's Former Nuclear Weapons Program: Nuclear Weapons On-Demand
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1727337336
• ISBN 13: 9781727337334
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Thirty years ago, in 1988, the United States secretly moved to end once and for all Taiwan’s nuclear weapons program, just as it was nearing the point of being able to rapidly break out to build nuclear weapons. Because intense secrecy has followed Taiwan’s nuclear weapons program and its demise, this book is the first account of that program’s history and dismantlement. Taiwan’s nuclear weapons program made more progress and was working on much more sophisticated nuclear weapons than publicly recognized. It came dangerously close to fruition. Taipei excelled at the misuse of civilian nuclear programs to seek nuclear weapons and implemented capabilities to significantly reduce the time needed to build them, following a decision to do so. Despite Taiwan’s efforts to hide these activities, the United States was able to gather incriminating evidence that allowed it to act, effectively denuclearizing a dangerous, destabilizing program, that if left unchecked, could have set up a potentially disastrous confrontation with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Taiwan case is rich in findings for addressing today’s nuclear proliferation challenges.

Review

You have achieved what several others have tried--former U.S. official involved in stopping Taiwan's nuclear weapons program.Taiwan has come close to developing nuclear weapons on two occasions, in 1977 and again in 1988, despite constant pledges to the United States that it was doing no such thing. Only the most persistent surveillance and intense pressure from Washington ended the program. The nonproliferation experts Albright and Stricker offer the most complete version yet told of this little-known story, based partly on the recollections of a high-ranking CIA informant inside the program. -Foreign AffairsTheir book provides the most comprehensive account to date of [Taiwan's] nuclear program. A key moment in the Albright-Stricker history is the January 1988 exfiltration by the CIA of a senior official Chang Hsien-yi who was embedded in Taiwan's nuclear establishment and wanted to stop activities that he believed could endanger his country.  Albright and Stricker provide the first detailed account in English of Chang's whistle-blowing.  William Burr, National Security Archive, George Washington University