US officials are incensed over what they see as threats by a senior Chinese military officer to use nuclear weapons against US cities.
In a letter sent to Chinese ambassador to the US Zhou Wenzhong (周文重), Republican Representative Tom Tancredo slammed Major General Zhu Chenghu (朱成虎) for making the comments and demanded an immediate apology from the Chinese government.
"For a senior government official to exhibit such tremendous stupidity by making such a brazen threat is hardly characteristic of a modern nation," Tancredo said in the letter, released yesterday.
"The US decision to recognize Communist China in 1979 was predicated on the commitment of your [Zhou's] country to resolve its differences with Taiwan peacefully," Tancredo wrote.
"If China continues to walk down this destructive path, I believe that the US may be forced to revisit the decision to establish diplomatic ties with your country in the first place," the letter said.
Senior US military officials described Zhu's words as foolhardy.
"This serves no purpose other than pissing off Congress," a US government source told the Taipei Times yesterday.
"I could see China retaliating in kind to a US attack on China, but to go as far as to publicly threaten a nuclear response is just crazy," the source said.
"I don't think comments like this do anything to deter the United States from its legal and moral obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act to assist Taiwan in defending itself," he said.
In comments reported in yesterday's editions of the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, Zhu said if the US intervened in a Taiwan Strait conflict, China "will be determined to respond."
"We Chinese will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all the cities east of Xian," Zhu said.
"Of course, the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese," the major general said.
When asked if Zhu's threat was credible, a former Pentagon official laughed off the claim.
"That's an exaggeration," he said. "There is no question about it."
China's force of nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles is currently "less than 20 CSS-4s [also called the Dong Feng-5]," the official said.
CSS-4s are silo-based missiles, and have a range of up to an estimated 12,000km.
The former Pentagon official also warned that the US' standing policy regarding use of nuclear weapons would not be favorable for Beijing as the US' nuclear deterrent was far more capable than China's.
STATISTICS
According to statistics supplied by the Federation of American Scientists, the US maintains an active deterrent force -- ready to be launched within 15 minutes -- of more than 2,000 nuclear weapons, the vast bulk of which are deployed on missile submarines and are capable of striking targets almost anywhere in the world.
A nuclear attack on the US or its forces would require "full response in kind, with the end focus being on regime change," the former Pentagon official said.
"If China nuked the US, it would mean the end of the Chinese Communist Party," he said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College