Top Chinese general warns US over attack By Alexandra Harney in Beijing and Demetri Sevastopulo and Edward Alden in Washington 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. “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.”
Jesus Christ, I saw that today on DrudgeReport. Absolutely insane. I can imagine the CIA file on him just got 5 volumes larger. I mean, I'm not THAT worried, this guy also seemed okay with losing Beijing and Shanghai (all East of Xian, right?), so he's probably not in the majority. I only lived through the end of the Cold War, so the constant sabre rattling from the USSR, etc., never really seemed out of place (although I shouldn't have been allowed to watch "The Day After" and "Threads" at such a young age). I don't think China is any different.
Maybe this just a call to smell the coffee. IM must be very envied of this kind of calls that his Iranians are unable to make.
Pretty much a stupid statement to make on his part. Chinese may be able to hit our west coast, but the US response would be far more devestating on China. Of course if his goal is for population reduction, this would be the way to do it. Overall this guy is talking out his ass.
One looney talks crazy and another one runs to his keyboard to start a thread implying the whole Chinese nation is in on this. Why am I not surprised? Really, why am I not surprised? From the same article, 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. 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. 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.
Well... he's obviously not a white anglo american, so he must be evil by definition? Begone, you non WASP/C!
Hey dreamer- I was curious as to what your take would be. It seems our "friends" may not be so friendly after all. Hey, I know you are sensitive on this subject and I would be too if I were you, so I'm really not ragging on you. But you have to admit that this does not seem to be the actions of a friendly regime. Can you imagine the even a low-level general from the UK or France threatening the US with a nuclear exchange? It remains to be seen what action, if any, will be taken by the Chinese government. Perhaps the true state of relations between the two nations will best be judged by the Chinese actions of the next several days in relation to the apallingly poor judgment of this individual.
Thanks for not ragging on me. Much appreciated. This guy is not talking in any official capacity as pointed out by the article. This has got nothing to do with a regime threatening another regime. This is an individual looney talking in terms of hypotheticals and even so he did say he doesn't anticipate war with the US. The "unfriendliness" seems to be from your friends on the Capitol Hill who seize on these words from an individual looney and try to paint this as something of a national policy of China. But I understand, it's a sensitive time for you and your cronies up on the Capitol Hill to try to sell your Annual "massively over-exaggerated" (as you put it the other day) Report on the Chinese miliary. Yeah ignore the repeated warm wishes and well intented messages from the Chinese leadership and seize on one lunatics's words in his private capacity. How much more desperate could you anti-Chinese lot get?
Wow. You really have a lot of anger built up. I don't think my questions were at all attacking, and I was honestly interested in your take and to see if you could see the problems having a high level official make comments like this could cause. I think one has to "seize on one lunatic's words" when nuclear threats are involved. You seem to think you know a lot about me. You don't. You certainly have made a lot of assumptions about my views. You're wrong.
It is also a way to go about posturing. Have a fringe voice issue an idea that would be too controversial or conflictual to be introduced by the mainstream politcal voice. This way the idea is put out there and it can be tempered by the mainstream. So you introduce a large impact idea and lessen its impact by using a voice that the mainstream can deny any connection too or relationship with. If the mainstream says it then there is an immediate abrasiveness between sides. This way it just plants a seed of what if. Not the first time such things have been used in political interactions. Of course that is just specualtion of a possibility on my part.
You're not far off. Maybe you haven't read this thread. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185157 But seriously, this time I blame the Eskimos.
The funny thing is the Chinese think we are scared. I swear that if the Chinese nuke us I am never eating Pick Up Stix again. That should put the fear of god into them.
well, theres enough Nuclear weopons on this planet to blow up earth 7 and half times, China has a lot of nuclear weapons and i think they would have enough to blow half the world up let alone america or of course you can join me in Ireland and duck for cover that way you will be save
And the Chinese sure have seemed to be trying on the idea that we're stretched too thin to be able to support Taipei all that well... and the idea seems pretty plausible for that matter...