Nuclear threat to US over Taiwan conflict
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World News
July 15, 2005
Nuclear threat to US over Taiwan conflict
From Tim Reid
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 "
World News
July 15, 2005
Nuclear threat to US over Taiwan conflict
From Tim Reid
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 "
posted by Greta Jane at Friday, July 15, 2005
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