The recent uproar over General Zhu’s comments regarding Chinese use of nuclear weapons has inspired a number of responses, both from government officials and in major world newspapers.

Both the American and Chinese governments have come out to condemn his remarks.  However, Xinhua reports the Chinese steadfastness on Taiwan:

"We will firmly abide by the principles of peaceful reunification and one country two systems, and we will express the deepest sincerity and exert the greatest efforts to realize a peaceful reunification of China," the Xinhua news agency quoted a ministry spokesman as saying late Friday.
But, the spokesman added: "We will never tolerate ‘Taiwan Independence’, neither will we allow anybody with any means to separate Taiwan from the motherland."

 

Australian Prime Minister Howard put his own spin on the comments, denouncing them and playing them down.

The Financial Times, which seems to have scooped this story, also promptly put out an editorial calling for both sides to resist the aggression of their hawk factions. 

The Uncooperative Blogger suggests that this statement was intentional and was meant to rebuff Americans should the Chinese ultimately decide to invade Taiwan. America’s conservative FrontPageMagazine agrees.

I have been surprised with how little has been said about this by other foreigners in editorial pages.  It seems to me that it should be bigger news.  In any case, this seems to punctuate the recent slide in Sino-American relations and should certainly change the tone of the relationship.