Posted on 07/14/2005 6:09:27 PM PDT by ChristianDefender
A Chinese military official says Beijing will use nuclear weapons against the U.S. if the Americans attack the Asian nation in a fight over Taiwan.
"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, according to the Financial Times.
Speaking at a function organized for foreign journalists, the official noted the definition of China's territory includes warships and aircraft.
"If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be determined to respond," 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."
The Financial Times notes Zhu is a self-acknowledged "hawk" who has warned previously that China could strike the U.S. 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.
Zhu is not the first Chinese official to mention the use of nuclear weapons first in a conflict over Taiwan.
Chas Freeman, a former U.S. assistant secretary of defense, said in 1999 that a PLA official had told him China could respond in kind to a nuclear strike by the U.S. in the event of a conflict with Taiwan.
"In the end you care more about Los Angeles than you do about Taipei," Freeman quoted this official as saying.
Though official U.S. policy on Taiwan is that it is part of mainland China – the "one China" policy – President Bush has said the U.S. would defend the island republic if it were attacked by Beijing.
double nuke back to ya
Why trade nukes? All they have to do is refuse to buy any more US national debt instruments, and we head dive into the toilet.
Wonder if this General will still be one tomorrow
Exactly. This is definitely one of those "go ahead make my day" moments.
Is there anyone who HASN'T threatened us in the last 12 months?
Sounds like the ultimate answer to China's over population.
He's going to quickly disappear from the scene.
China has way too much to on the line right now to be talking nukes. someone in the Party will explain the facts of life to this acknowledged hawk.
Anyone worth a damn in China knows not to talk this way.
All we have to do is stop buying their goods and they dive into the toilet!
They are. They have lots of people and not enough land for them to occupy. Also, they do, believe it or not, have a reasonably competent civil defense infrastructure. Theirs is in the top 5 world wide. Switzerland's is number one. Japan a close second. Russia and the PRC about tied. The USA? We barely have anything - every man for himself.
The only chinese pal i'm afraid of is Jet Li...
Not exactly word for word but similar to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's last words in Brazil........LOL!
I don't know but we are one of the countries that has almost no civil defense infrastructure.
"Is there anyone who HASN'T threatened us in the last 12 months?"
Bangladesh
and selling our oil companies to these people would be good how?...please.
LOL...
Which would make their debt instrument holdings completely worthless and then they head dive into the toilet.
It works both ways, only we could recover far faster.
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