China General Threatens U.S., With Nukes, Over Taiwan

[Gold9472]

Nuclear threat to US over Taiwan conflict

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...695360,00.html

From Tim Reid
7/15/2005

CHINA is willing to use nuclear weapons against the United States if it is attacked in a conflict over Taiwan, a senior Chinese military official said last night.

“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 press briefing for foreign journalists.

General Zhu, a well-known hawk who has said before that China could strike the US with long-ranged missiles, said his comments were “my assessment”, and not the “policy of the Government”.

Nevertheless, his threat, in which he emphasised that China’s definition of its territories included warships and aircraft, is the first time for a decade that a senior official in Beijing has used such provocative rhetoric.

General Zhu, a professor at the National Defence University in China, added: “If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be determined to respond.

“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.”

Rick Fisher, a former US congressional official and an authority on the Chinese military, said the specific nature of the threat was “a new addition to China’s public discourse”.

Although General Zhu is not formally engaged with policy-making, his comments come at a sensitive time for relations between Washington and Beijing on a range of issues, including Taiwan and trade.

This week congressional hearings in Washington over the intentions of the Chinese oil company Cnooc Ltd to buy Unocal Corporation have featured strong anti-Chinese comments on Capitol Hill.

Statements such as General Zhu’s “have sort of sown the seeds in Washington that the Chinese are not just a threat, they’re a real danger”, John Tkacik, a China specialist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told the Asian Wall Street Journal.

Mr Tkacik said General Zhu’s comments may have been intended as a kind of “psychological warfare” to underscore China’s resolve, but that they were likely to backfire in Washington.

Taiwan has enjoyed nominal independence since 1949, but Beijing claims Taiwan as part of China. General Zhu described Taiwanese independence as “a cancer” that could spread.

China’s official doctrine has called for no first use of nuclear weapons since its first atomic test in 1964.

[Gold9472]

Top Chinese general warns US over attack

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/28cfe55a-f4...00e2511c8.html

By Alexandra Harney in Beijing and Demetri Sevastopulo and Edward Alden in Washington
Published: July 14 2005 21:59 | Last updated: July 15 2005 00:03

China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday.

“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,” said General Zhu Chenghu.

Gen Zhu was speaking at a function for foreign journalists organised, in part, by the Chinese government. He added that China's definition of its territory included warships and aircraft.

“If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be determined to respond,” said Gen Zhu, who is also a professor at China's National Defence University.

“We . . . 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.”

Gen Zhu is a self-acknowledged “hawk” who has warned 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.

However, some US-based China experts cautioned that Gen Zhu probably did not represent the mainstream People's Liberation Army view.

“He is running way beyond his brief on what China might do in relation to the US if push comes to shove,” said one expert with knowledge of Gen Zhu. “Nobody who is cleared for information on Chinese war scenarios is going to talk like this,” he added.

Gen Zhu's comments come as the Pentagon prepares to brief Congress next Monday on its annual report on the Chinese military, which is expected to take a harder line than previous years. They are also likely to fuel the mounting anti-China sentiment on Capitol Hill.

In recent months, a string of US officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, have raised concerns about China's military rise. The Pentagon on Thursday declined to comment on “hypothetical scenarios”.

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 Gen 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 1996 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. The official is believed to have been Xiong Guangkai, now the PLA's deputy chief of general staff.

Gen Zhu said his views did not represent official Chinese policy and he did not anticipate war with the US.

[princesskittypoo]

*snort* my psychic friend once told me to be prepared for the invasion of the chinesse. they would be the next world power and take over.
scarey thought....