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Chinese Officer Threatens U.S. With Nukes
China would use nuclear weapons against the United States if Washington were to intervene militarily in Beijing’s dispute with Taiwan, a top Chinese military official said yesterday (see GSN, June 24). “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. “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,” said Zhu. He added, however, that his views did not represent official Chinese policy. Some U.S.-based China experts also said Zhu’s views likely did not represent mainstream attitudes within the leadership of the Chinese army. “He is running way beyond his brief on what China might do in relation to the U.S. if push comes to shove,” said one expert. “Nobody who is cleared for information on Chinese war scenarios is going to talk like this.” Since its first nuclear weapons test in 1964, official Chinese policy has called for no first use of nuclear weapons, according to the Times (Harney/Sevastopulo, Financial Times, July 15).
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