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
those scores would have to remain unsettled
the chinese people need to take out their government. hopefully trade and education will forment this. if Tawain then becomes a "puerto rico" to the new china, then so be it.
Hollywood is part of City of Los Angeles. They tried to secede in 2002, but failed.
"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"
Post #39 says the chicoms are targeting only blue state cities. With that in mind I think I'll keep the tub and wait for the dust to settle. Thank you for your concern.
For instance...
........As Taiwan conducted these democratic exercises, it might have expected moral support from the United States as a sister democracy. Such support was not forthcoming, however. Instead, the Bush administration succumbed to pressure from the People's Republic of China (PRC) and sought to discourage Taiwan from holding the referendum. There were also quiet but unmistakable signals from Washington that U.S. leaders considered Chen a disruptive figure and hoped he would not be reelected.
What was surprising and distressing was the Bush administration's response to China's pressure. How much the administration was willing to accommodate Beijing became evident in December 2003 during a visit by Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. President Bush publicly scolded "Taiwan's leader" for seeking to change the political status of the island unilaterally and emphasized Washington's opposition to any unilateral actions.
In any case, neither the earlier exuberantly pro-Taiwan policy nor the latest pro-Beijing posture of the Bush administration serves the best interests of the United States.
I agree about the conventional world of hurt arguement...we've got lots of options before it has to go nuclear...and I doubt we'd use them in a first strike manner...but we've always reserved the right.
And again, we'd use them, if China used a nuke first...no doubt about it.
Man, you got that right. There'll be more chickens coming home to roost from the Clinton presidency than just OBL. Clinton should have been tried as a traitor.
My point is that I hated seeing what appeared to be the administration "sucking up" to the PRC, especially after Bush's public expression of solidarity with Taiwan.
so long Taiwan, it was nice knowin' ya...
" All we need to do is stop buying their sh*t at Wal-Mart."
You must be one of Wal-Marts retail competitors who BTW all Wal-Mart competitors also buy all their products from FLIPPIN China! Before china it was Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, pick a third world country or cheap labor country, ie., get a clue already.
He is a lunatic and China better make sure he doesn't have his finger on the button.
" All we need to do is stop buying their sh*t at Wal-Mart."
Hey don't forget to add big time China product buyer Hobby Lobby too. And add 85% of all other global retailers.
China knows this all too well, which means any statement made by them that they would use them against us...should be met with a heaping plate of skepticism...
With Maggie Thatcher was still around to tell W not to go wobbly like she had to tell his dad. When it comes to China some conservatives seem like weak little school girls.
"Three words: Three Gorges Dam"
Owch. It could redefine the Pacific Ocean, I'll say that much.
Thanks for not flaming. Wasn't sure what kind of response I'd receive.
All I know is Hu Jintao (who is the state president and general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee) is for upholding Marxist theory, he's increased censorship of the news media and harassment of dissidents there. On the other hand I do have a picture of him smiling as he bows to Dick Cheney when he came over for an official visit after 2000, so he can't be all bad. LOL
China needs a little old-fashioned subversion. When they get good and tired of a government, they level it and start afresh. We should be directing some energy toward making them good and tired of their masters.
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