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
The Colonel spoke with the approval of the central committee, just as North Korea does.
This demonstrates how untenable China's position is with respect to Taiwan: they know they must go nuclear to stand a chance of taking Taiwan. As the military balance changes, however, they regularly re-test the proposition.
These are probes to guage American resolve. The best response is none; just let Bush's "whatever it takes" position stand.
Yeppers...most likely.
Sure, China would be smoke inside of a day, but America would be gone, too. That would likely not be the end of it. There are a lot of scores to settle on this planet.
Uh, I don't think this'll help their CNOOC/UNOCAL case. What a wonderful trading partner.
Ummm... you do know they sent an astronaut into space don't you?
Interesting. My message is "QUIT GIVING THEM MONEY". Then they can't catch up.
Table of Global Nuclear Weapons Stockpiles, 2000-2002
How about a graphic of new, chinese landing craft being built (that recently even shocked our own SECDEF) vs. our subs available in the area near Tawain?
".. And Target, Home Depot, Kohl's, CostCo, etc. etc. etc."
Uh, oh....and I just bought a new bathtub yesterday....now I have to take the Home Depot receipt to the Feds and turn myself in for sedition...sniffle...goodbye everybody.
There are a lot of scores to settle on this planet.
the only real scores left are:
communism - china, cuba
fanaticism - n. korea
tyranny - syria, libya, various other african nations
islamic fundamentalism - iran
monarchy (not really a score, but has reached its end) saudi arabia;
and idiocy - france, germany,
Can we really be sure the U.S. would launch a nuclear response to an attack by China?
now I have to take the Home Depot receipt to the Feds and turn myself in for sedition
where did the tub come from?
if china, then maybe you should take the receipt to a VFW and turn yourself in to the vets, and explain why you support a communist nation.
Goodbye
Before Bill Clinton was in office, it would take a great deal of luck for a missile to make Alaska.
Bill Clinton did not only let Osama go, but also allowed rocket and missile guidance technology go to China so they can now bomb any city in the USA with ease.
This is more Clinton chickens coming home to roost and why I say Bill Clinton was the worst President of all time.
I wasn't referring to America's unfinished business, but those scores would have to remain unsettled if America goes offline for a couple hundred years. There are other accounts still open. India/Pakistan for starters.
You better believe it...it is SOP. And beleived to be a codified in quick reaction response options within the football...W...would have a list of nuke retaliatory options.
It's also in a breif on US nuclear posture issued by the Whitehouse on it's position if attacked by a nuclear weapon...response in kind is the bottom line.
The citizens of L.A. and S.F. have clinton to thank that the Chinese have mirved warheads pointed at them. Clinton and his friends sold them the technology.
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