Posted on 07/14/2005 2:39:38 PM PDT by Stellar Dendrite
China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, according to a senior Chinese military official.
“If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,” Zhu Chenghu, a major general in the People's Liberation Army, said at an official briefing.
Mr Zhu, who is also a professor at China's National Defence University, was speaking at a function for foreign journalists organised, in part, by the Chinese government. He added that China's definition of its territory includes warships and aircraft.
“If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be determined to respond,” Mr Zhu said. “We Chinese will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xian. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds. . . of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.” Mr Zhu is a self-acknowledged “hawk” who has warned previously that China could strike the US with long-range missiles. But his threat to use nuclear weapons in a conflict over Taiwan is the most specific by a senior Chinese official in nearly a decade.
Rick Fisher, a former senior US congressional official and an authority on the Chinese military, said the specific nature of the threat “is a new addition to China's public discourse”.
China's official doctrine has called for no first use of nuclear weapons since its first atomic test in 1964. But Mr Zhu is not the first Chinese official to refer to the possibility of using such weapons first in a conflict over Taiwan.
Chas Freeman, a former US assistant secretary of defence, said in 1999 that a PLA official had told him China could respond in kind to a nuclear strike by the US in the event of a conflict with Taiwan.
“In the end you care more about Los Angeles than you do about Taipei,” Mr Freeman quoted this official as saying. The official is believed to have been Xiong Guangkai, now the PLA's deputy chief of general staff.
The rationale for the new threats is unclear. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment.
Mr Zhu, who has risen from the rank of colonel over the past five years, insisted he was expressing his personal views, and that they did not represent the policy of the Chinese government. Nor was he anticipating war between China and the US.
But he said that, because China did not have the capability to fight a conventional war against the US, the threat to escalate might be the only way to stop a war.
His comments could provide insight into the thinking among some in the PLA amid growing anxiety in Washington about its capabilities. Last month, Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, voiced concern about China's military build-up.
Additional reporting by Edward Alden in Washington
So much for deterrence and MAD!
Bill Clinton's friend and campaign donor, China, speaks.
I'm sure they appreciate the help with ballistic missiles Clinton sold them.
Yes it is, for now. But, we can't continue to pump them untold wealth under the 'Most Favored Nation' status and not expect them to eventually reach Superpower status.
They have never hidden their plan to dominate the globe. They remind me somewhat of the Islamists. They lie in wait until they reach 'critical mass'. Expect an attack when they believe they have achieved it.
Consider this. Whereas, when the USSR glowered over Europe with their SS-20s, which are an entirely different animal than ICBMs, due to the shorter distance and shorter flight times, we responded with Pershing-2s slated for Europe, nuclear armed ground launched cruise missiles actually deployed in Europe, and our SDI plan, all the while vastly increasing our conventional punch. Now, with the PRC similarly glowering with DF-21s over SE Asia, Japan, Taiwan and other nearby countries, all of them with NO nuclear weapons, we are not responding. To compare with the past European situation, instead of taking a Ronald Reagan approach currently we are taking a Jimmy Carter approach. Where will it lead?
Didn't I read the other day that the US military is planning the future US forces around small quick, skirmishes...that they think that will be where all the future threats are??? .i.e instead of a major all out war?
Um, you forgot about the SLICBMs and SLIRBMs they have. They are cranking out the subs to carry them as I write this. Also, the DF-41, due out literally any day (solid fuel, similar specs to MX) will be able to reach anywhere on Earth.
Good 'to the point' post.
Let me just adjust one thing...'Bill and Hillary Clinton was the worst President of all time.
How can we know how many they have? There are no inspections and we've had very little luck getting assets into their nuclear programs.
And still the free traitors grasp themselves in Michael Jackson style, while simpering and moaning about lower prices for consumers.
No doubt they will become even more excited about free trade when an American city is incinerated by a nuclear attack.
China should just go ahead and nuke Taipei and be done with it. Who would care? Forget the invasion, it would be over in a minute.
Please don't let the cat out of the bag ... please, no more photos of my irregulars! LOL ...
GOP_1900AD
Literally writin' these here words from da hood!
Oh, Gee.. and lets sell them Unocal!
It is estimated that they currently have 400 warheads. That number will only increase, especially as they fill their vaults.
This is according to Wikipedia: "By some estimates of true spending, the PRC's military spending is second only to the US's of over $400 billion."
This increase in wealth has been directly related to the passage of 'Most Favored Nation' status and is a new and welcomed phenomenon for the Red Chinese. They are most certainly laughing (at us) all the way to the bank.
Ever see 1.3 BILLION "consumers" evaporate @ 10,000 degrees?
Exactly.
In other words, we are banking everything on the assumption that the books Thomas L. Friedman has written are the gospel truth, there will only be fighting terrorists and failed states (with the occasional looney tin pot thrown in) and never again shall we ever face either a new great power threat or an axis. Look at the thousands of years of history. What is your bet?
One other thing neither the media nor even "the experts" mention. If I spend one dollar on defense in the US, I get X. If I spend 8.3 Yuan (e.g. 1 dollar) in the PRC, I get 10X.
It's the ChiClintonComs.
Quote: "By some estimates of true spending, the PRC's military spending is second only to the US's of over $400 billion."
..and look where alot of our spending goes: defending Japan, Germany, S. Korea, Kosovo etc. + plus the WOT.
China has none of that spending. They can spend their whole enchilada on new equipment. Just think of the equipment we could buy if we did not have to be the "world's policemen"?
Please tell me that you're not another with their head in the sand. Iran???
Go ANYWHERE in Saudi Arabia (or a myriad other places on earth) and read a Bible in public.
Try walking into a mosque in the U.S. with a Bible in your hand.
The lunatic's 'religion' now comprises 22% of the population of our planet. ***22%***
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