Posted on 06/18/2004 7:07:34 PM PDT by bunkerhill7
China told to use nukes if Taiwan hits dam
Some parliamentary delegates call on Beijing to retract its no-first-use pledge to deter 'terrorist acts' like dam strike
By Guo Shiping
SHENZHEN - China should withdraw its undertaking on no first-use of nuclear weapons should Taiwan try to blow up the Three Gorges Dam, according to some parliamentary delegates.
The call was made by them - as well as some who sit on the country's top political advisory body - in the wake of a recent US Defence Department report which suggested that Taiwan could target the dam in a pre-emptive strike.
That study sparked off a public debate in Taiwan on developing a military offensive strategy.
In response, delegates to China's National People's Congress (NPC), the de facto parliament, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) wrote to the central government in Beijing, calling for it to revise its no-first-use pledge on nuclear weapons.
Their argument is that the undertaking needs to be changed now that the country is facing hostile forces planning attacks against its densely populated regions and the dam, the world's biggest hydroelectric project.
They feel that such strikes should be viewed as terrorist attacks and that China should use nuclear weapons as a deterrence.
On their side are some American think-tank scholars who have expressed strong objections to any Taiwanese attempt to blow up the dam.
They believe such an attack will bring destruction to Taiwan itself.
The NPC and CPPCC delegates also want Beijing to freeze Taiwanese businessman Hsu Wen-long's assets in China to punish him for his support of Taiwanese independence.
After China's Taiwan Affairs Office and the official People's Daily singled him out for criticism, Chinese websites were inundated with calls for economic sanctions against the Taiwanese tycoon.
The cyber-postings urged the Chinese people to boycott the products of Mr Hsu's Chi Mei Group and not to work for his companies.
Such calls have been growing in intensity within China, which explains why many NPC and CPPCC delegates scrambled to ask for his assets in China to be frozen.
Some analysts in Beijing argue that the delegates' request is totally reasonable given that Mr Hsu has committed treason and is determined to split the country.
In the United States, they note, the authorities have the right to freeze the assets of anyone guilty of instigating secession.
To the suggestion that the Taiwanese businessman merely gave vocal support, the delegates' counter was that he had gone beyond words.
During critical junctures in Taiwan's 2000 presidential election, he declared openly that Mr Chen Shui-bian was the only person who could truly carry out 'Lee Teng-hui's line' and he played a role in helping Mr Chen win the support of Taiwanese voters.
The delegates also said the Taiwanese tycoon had long been bankrolling President Chen's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, something Mr Hsu himself never denied.
According to reliable sources in Beijing, China will be taking a carrot-and-stick approach in its future dealings with Taiwanese businessmen.
Chinese officials in charge of Taiwan affairs said that Taiwanese investors' support for independence, or the lack of it, would determine how China would treat them.
Those who back independence can expect the stick; those who do not will be welcomed warmly.
In fact, for the latter group, China will soon be offering more benefits, including tax and land-price concessions, special protection even if cross-strait ties worsen, and appointment as advisers on Taiwan affairs to help China keep abreast of developments there.
The writer is a professor of economics at Shenzhen University in China.
Dumb-busters
So, the proper approach of the Taiwanese should be to "hold the Dam hostage." Taiwan should announce in public that in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan, it will blow the Dam. The same principles of destruction apply there as in the Ruhr Valley in Germany, shown in the WW II movie, "Dambusters." China will be yanked back from the status of a developing nation to a third-world nation in a week, if that Dam is blown. China should not be so stupid as to risk that result.
John / Billybob
Sounds like sombody is feeling just a teeny weeny bit vulnerable! :)
I'm sure Taiwan is getting ready to take on Mainland China. WTF?!?!?!?
I wonder how many møøselimbs are in on the design or construction.
Hmmmm. A dam with a built in bomb...
The only reason Taiwan would have for attacking the dam would be as revenge for an invasion from the mainland...but retribution is the logical opposite of preemption. Color me confused.
There that's better.
?? Why would we tell the commies about this? Somehow I think this article is not talking about the Taiwanese government but perhaps Al Qaida-style terrorists who live in Taiwan, perhaps? This story is confusing.
Funny how they turn to imagined American statutes to justify their pretensions. This is a magnificent capitulation to America's historical victory.
Tiananmen, anywone?
(Oh, and Mao was a great lover of the Declaration of Independence.)
Wasn't there something a few years ago about them declaring a certain carrier a strategic asset, saying that if it were attacked they would be justified in using the nuclear option? (or was that some book I read...). Seems mighty convenient...
Good point.
Taiwan does not have to blow up the 3G's Dam. China has done such a half-ass job of building it that it may take care of itself.
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