The early Cold War was far less frenetic than the peak period of US-Soviet rivalry; that madness escalated gradually. China, however, was an outlier. At the very start of the Cold War, it had already established a long-term, effective strategy. Even after Chen Ke’s passing, China’s Cold War policies remained unchanged. Chen Ke had always maintained, "Competition between different systems will always exist; however, systemic competition must be distinguished from the competition of national interests. These two must not be conflated."

It was because of this stance that the intense Space Race of the Cold War held an entirely different meaning for China. As the Space Race unfolded, the impact of China's attitude on the rest of the world became increasingly apparent. European and American Cold War experts would often remark, "History proves one thing: humanity rarely learns from past experiences. When summarizing World War II, many politicians and historians believed that official Chinese statements and data should be trusted. Yet in the Cold War, these same people stubbornly insisted that official Chinese information was unreliable!"

The initial technical schools of the Space Race were divided into two main categories, as only China and Germany were the first to develop ballistic missiles. After Germany’s collapse, the Anglo-American bloc and the Soviet Union jointly carved up the rocket technology and experts obtained from Germany. At the time, both sides were overwhelmed and lacked the energy to further develop these technologies. Much like after World War I, what China obtained was "scattered technical data." Later declassified Chinese intelligence proved that, just as after the first Great War, China had secured exactly the "scattered technical data" they truly wanted.

By 1949, the US-led NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact were busy with the reconstruction and integration of their respective blocs. Within the United States, people began to enjoy the massive dividends brought by the war. Both sides assumed China was doing the same.

And indeed, it was. China was also working frantically to digest the enormous dividends of the war. However, as before, China adopted a completely different method of digestion.

The core system of China's technological development was the "Science and Technology Tree Project," a scientific framework that organically integrated basic research with production. China's space program was closely combined with transistor microelectronics, adopting a "walking on two legs" approach. On October 1, 1949, China's National Day, China launched the first artificial satellite in human history. Later declassified intelligence proved that China had completed the full set of blueprints and prototype tests for high-power rockets as early as the beginning of 1947. Yet China did not launch immediately. It waited until eighteen months later, when the problem of commercial production for the first generation of general-purpose integrated circuits was resolved, before setting the schedule for the rocket launch.

On China's National Day, the Chinese government suddenly announced to the world that China's artificial satellite had been successfully launched. The wireless transmitter on the satellite could continuously play *The Internationale* in Chinese, Russian, French, Spanish, and English. This news immediately shocked the world. As long as they had the appropriate equipment, state-owned and private radio stations across the globe received the radio signals from the satellite according to the frequency bands provided by China. Most listeners worldwide who owned a radio heard the majestic strains of *The Internationale*.

When the satellite launched by the Chinese sat high above like a god, broadcasting signals to the entire world that required advanced equipment to hear, the whole world was shaken. All the world's observatories and amateur astronomers used their various telescopes to track the Chinese satellite based on the orbital data provided by Chinese officials, leading to a sell-out of low-cost astronomical telescopes. Chinese-made telescopes even made a tidy profit from this.

Both the United States and the Soviet Union were greatly provoked. The Cold War in 1949 was not yet intense; the Federation of American Scientists even sent a congratulatory telegram to China, praising the Chinese scientific workers for completing a great feat in the history of human technology.

The period from 1949 to 1951 was the first peak of China's space launches. China's space workers had clear objectives. Through a series of launches and step-by-step "small-step, fast-run" experiments, they finally launched the first communication satellite into geostationary orbit in 1951.

All industrial nations were dumbfounded. They focused their attention on China's rapid strides in space technology, yet failed to notice the terrifying progress China had made in electronics and computer technology.

In 1951, artificial satellites were recognized as the world's top technology. While the US and the Soviet Union both regarded rocket technology as a long-range strike force—specifically as delivery vehicles for nuclear weapons—the Chinese viewed this technology as a civilian one. Later declassified documents proved that China did not begin investing specialized funds into the military application of rocket technology until the late 1960s.

Cold War experts have had to admit, "Both the United States and the Soviet Union took it for granted that China's investment in civilian rocket technology followed military research. Because that’s how they did it. They simply did not believe China’s official claims that rocket technology was entirely civilianized. This strategic deception was further obscured by the development of new military rocket technology that China began in the late 1960s. Of course, at that time, China adhered to its consistent attitude and very seriously announced to the world that its military rockets were being tested. This clever strategic deception did not overtly harm other countries. However, in the Space Race with China, nations concentrated massive resources that were actually unnecessary into the competition. Meanwhile, China utilized those precious resources for more effective civilian purposes. If China was merely a first-rate world power at the end of World War II, through decades of more efficient resource utilization, by the late Cold War, China had established a position of comprehensive global leadership. Rome was not built in a day, but from the moment it stepped onto the most effective and correct path, Rome was destined to be built."