The Financial Times reported today that General Zhu Chenghu said "…I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons" - in regards to a U.S. military intervention in the conflict over Taiwan. He was answering questions at a press conference for foreign journalists.
This statement was made a week before the Pentagon presents a report to Congress on the Chinese military. It is also in the midst of a heated debate on whether the Chinese should be allowed buy the California based oil company Unocal. This has repeatedly brought up the question of whether China is a friend or foe - General Chenghu’s statement might help to clear up that issue.
az
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July 15th, 2005 at 11:12 pm
Can you say Howard Dean in Chinese?
July 16th, 2005 at 12:13 am
Most likely although I don’t think this is a message for the U.S. government rather it is for the U.S. people. Presidents rarely do anything without polling first and if the ordinary citizen thinks nuclear war is at risk over Taiwan they might not be as supportive. Although this is just a single statement I think it is a test balloon of sorts for the PLA to see how the U.S. government responds and more importantly how the U.S. people respond. This is a chess game on many levels and the Chinese right now are feigning a nuclear attack in hopes of intimidating the ordinary U.S. citizen so that might force the U.S. governments hand in Taiwan.