Lop Nor

Lop Nor had disappeared, and Lou-Ian was buried in sand. Some sixty years later Charkhlik went to war against Ta Wu Ti of the Wei, who ruled much of China. Defeated by soldiers sent from Liang-chou, Charkhlik became a Wei prefecture. Thus Lop Nor and Lou-lan and Charkhlik disappeared from history within a few years of one another.

1979, Yasushi Inoue, translated by James T. Araki and Edward Seidensticker, Lou-lan and Other Stories, Kodansha International, page 40

Kennedy at the time was greatly concerned over reports that the Chinese Communists were secretly conducting nuclear explosions at Lop Nor in Northwest China—a sure indication they were working on atomic weapons. This was the period when Moscow and Peking were still close to each other, otherwise it might have been possible for the United States to devise a way to neutralize Peking's nuclear potential at an early stage. At their meeting Kennedy asked Chen many questions about Lop Nor. Could he have been thinking of a preventive surgical strike?

1983, James C. H. Shen, “Rejoining the Government”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 39