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In 1983, the United States proposed the "Strategic Defense Initiative" (SDI), which targeted the Soviet Union's strategic intercontinental nuclear missiles, using strong lasers, direct or indirect launch pads, points to invading missiles and destroys them, to form a strategic defense deterrence system. This is also known as the " Star Wars Plan " in history. Since then, Western European countries have signed the "Eureka Plan", Japan has introduced the "basic national policy for scientific and technological revitalization", the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries have formulated the "Comprehensive Program for Scientific and Technological Progress", South Korea has launched the "National Long-term Development Concept", and India has issued the "New Technology Policy Statement"...
For a time, countries around the world have set off a wave of competition to seize the bridgehead of high-tech.
Under this circumstance, a hot topic has emerged in the science and technology community in my country: is facing the new technological revolution and challenges!
At an expert symposium organized by relevant national departments, scientific and technological experts rushed to express their opinions. Most people believe that countermeasures should be taken as soon as possible to meet the challenges of the world's new technological revolution. There are also a few people who are worried that our country’s economic strength is not enough, and whether we can first carry out some short-term effective projects and adopt “take-taking”.
Faced with the ever-changing international situation, Wang Daheng, an optical expert who served as the director of of the Changchun Institute of Optical and Mechanical Engineering and was elected as the first member of the academic department in 1955, was anxious: "If you don't do it now, it will be gone in the next century and you will not be able to keep up at all!"
He remembered his experience of the "two bombs and one satellite" project. In extremely difficult situations, the country was independent and self-reliant, and spent less than 1/20 of the money of the United States and the Soviet Union to create the "two bombs and one satellite". He said that we can spend less money and do bigger things! High-tech things are very different from "a little bit" and "nothing at all", and this is a strategic issue. Can't be left behind! We must drive all other aspects by germinating a seed.
Wang Daheng
Wang Daheng's idea has been supported by many knowledgeable people, and radio electronics Chen Fangyun also has the same view as him.
One day in early 1986, Chen Fangyun came to Wang Daheng's house. They discussed each other's ideas in detail. Then Chen Fangyun suggested: "Can you write something and reflect our ideas upward."
Wang Daheng happily agreed: "Yes, the highest leaders should understand our ideas and strive to provide assistance to national decision-making."
They agreed to write a suggestion to the leaders of the Central Committee and the State Council, and Wang Daheng was responsible for drafting the proposal.
Wang Daheng remembers: "I wrote the main article on how our country should take countermeasures, mainly summarizing the opinions of the expert symposium. I also invited Yang Jiaqi from the Science and Technology Committee of the Ministry of Aerospace, because he is very familiar with space technology, and he also has the predecessor of the scientific community of my country Wang Ganchang . After discussion and finalization, the four of us, in the name of members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, jointly wrote a letter to Deng Xiaoping, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang on March 3, 1986. The title is "Suggestions on Tracking and Researching the Development of Strategic High Technologies in Foreign Technologies."
"863 Plan" four advocates took a photo (left) (left) Starting: Wang Daheng, Wang Ganchang, Yang Jiaqi, Chen Fangyun)
Recommendation is straightforward: "We must start from now on and track the development process of new technologies with the best of our ability with funds and manpower. It is important to know that the competition in today's world is very fierce, and if you slack off, you will be in a slump. If you don't catch up at this time, you will fall behind to the point where you can't turn around in the future... In the situation where the whole world is accelerating the development of new technologies, if we don't hurry to catch up, the consequences will be unimaginable." Then six suggestions were put forward, and their main points were:
1. High-tech issues are related to international competition for national strength, and we cannot ignore them.
2. In terms of high-tech that concerns national strength, we must first strive for the word "have". There is a big difference between having and not having. True high technology cannot be bought with money.
3. Given my country's economic situation, the planning and scope of high-tech cannot be compared with industrially developed countries. Therefore, it is necessary to "highlight key points and limited goals" and emphasize reserves and driving forces.
4. Actively track international advanced levels and be able to gain a place in the international clubs involved.
5. Give full play to the role of the current high-tech backbone, cultivate talents through actual training, and prepare for the development of the next century.
6. Time is endless, you need to have a sense of urgency. It takes time to develop high technology. If you catch it late, you will be willing to fall behind and it is difficult to get back.
After signing the proposal, Wang Daheng thought that it seemed a bit abrupt to send only one proposal to the central leaders. It should be written to give a letter to briefly explain the situation. So Wang Daheng wrote a letter to Deng Xiaoping, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang.
"863" plan letter
After writing this letter, Wang Daheng thought that the proposal was sent to the central leaders in his personal name, and it is likely to be processed as "Letter from the People", and the leaders cannot see the original; if it is reported according to the official document procedure, it will be approved layer by layer, and I don't know how long it will take to hear the news.
Therefore, he came up with a quick way - to personally ask a familiar and enthusiastic person to help submit the letter, and the result was to achieve the goal of quick results.
The proposal of Wang Daheng and four others was delivered on March 3, 1986. Just two days later (March 5), Deng Xiaoping issued an instruction: "This suggestion is very important. Please ask Comrade Ziyang to discuss with relevant responsible persons and put forward opinions for decision-making. Make a decision on this matter quickly and do not delay."
After Deng Xiaoping's instructions, all parties promptly implemented it. From April to September 1986, the State Council organized more than 200 relevant experts to conduct investigations and demonstrations, and then formulated the "National High-Tech Research and Development Plan Outline" and approved and implemented it with the approval of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee.
In order to commemorate the origin of the "Outline", it was later named after the "863 Plan".
"863 Plan" first sets the goal: track international levels in several high-tech fields, narrow the gap with foreign countries, and strive to make breakthroughs in areas with advantages in my country, create conditions for economic development and national defense security at the end of the 20th century, especially in the early 21st century; cultivate a new generation of high-level scientific and technological talents; drive scientific and technological progress in related fields through umbrella radiation; lay a relatively advanced technical foundation for economic development and national defense construction at the beginning of the 21st century, and create good conditions for the development of high technology itself; closely connect the phased research results with other promotion and application plans, quickly transform them into productivity, give full play to economic benefits, and then, in line with the principles of limited goals, highlighting key points, aiming at the forefront, and actively tracking, recommend seven fields such as biotechnology, aerospace technology, laser technology, automation technology, information technology, energy technology, new material technology, etc., which China has priority development, and is concreted into 15 theme projects.
"863 Plan" implementation time is set to 15 years, with a total investment of RMB 10 billion.
After the implementation of the "863 Plan", Wang Daheng was always paying attention to every move in the field of high-tech. Whenever he heard about any new progress made by a project, a sincere joy arose in his heart. Regarding the development of key areas, he ignored his age and took the initiative to help him with his heart.
Taking aerospace technology as an example, Wang Daheng has always been paying close attention. He not only serves as the deputy leader of the manned aerospace engineering review expert group, but also the main person in charge of the manned aerospace application system demonstration and design stage review group. He strictly controls the determination of missions and technical plans.
Wang Daheng is particularly concerned about the important task of aerospace applications - the development of advanced space optical systems. When facing a series of issues such as the weight of aerospace camera, shooting resolution, and manned safety, he listened to opinions from all parties, stood at a high place, focused on the long-term significance and application prospects, and spoke loudly, thus promoting the application of aspherical space optical systems in aerospace technology.
my country's manned space flight engineering has thus adopted new technologies and methods to develop the lightest and highest-quality advanced space optical system at that time, and successfully completed the space flight mission. His approach has actually promoted the long-term development of a series of processes such as aspherical design, processing, testing, and assembly.
Since the launch of the "863 Plan", my country's high-tech field has achieved frequent results, and Wang Daheng is often hailed as a hero of the "863", but he never calls it his credit. He always says that these things are what he should do. He humorously and humorously said that he just lit a match for the "863 Plan".
But history and the people will never forget those who have made contributions. On December 18, 2018, the Party Central Committee and the State Council awarded Wang Daheng the title of Pioneer of Reform and the Reform Pioneer Medal. He was named "the main advocate of the '863 Plan'".
article : Hu Xiaojing, School of Humanities, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Reference:
1. Hu Xiaojing, "The Little Heart of the Child, the Light of China: Biography of Wang Daheng", Beijing: China Science and Technology Press, Shanghai Jiaotong University Press, 2016
2. Wang Daheng, from missile tracking and measurement to 863 plan. "Please remember them in history - Chinese scientists and two bombs and one satellite", Guangzhou: Jinan University Press, 1999.
3. The pictures in this article are from the academic growth data collection project of old scientists
