China: We'd nuke U.S. if provoked over Taiwan

[whodunit]

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45278

A Chinese military official says Beijing will use nuclear weapons against the U.S. if the Americans attack the Asian nation in a fight over Taiwan.

I personally believe this could be a viable option for China, given the fact that nuclear bombs exploding over China could affect US allies like Taiwan, S.Korea and Japan.

 

[Waylander]

Do you really think the US would think one second about the neighbours of China if the PLA starts to lob ICBMs onto US soil?

And since now I thought that China has the policy of not using nukes first...

 

[ROCK45]

Thinking

Waylander I pick up on what you mentioned and other things going through a few articles from the web site attached.
http://www.defencetalk.com/forums/images/icons/icon12.gif

 

[whodunit]

Do you really think the US would think one second about the neighbours of China if the PLA starts to lob ICBMs onto US soil?

And since now I thought that China has the policy of not using nukes first...

I never said there wouldn't be retaliation. But for the Chinese they could view it as a real option given the position of the US government.

 

[autumn child]

I don't think we should treat the article seriously, looks more like a flame bait. China's no first strike policy still stands. No one wants a nuclear war, but no one knows what can happen during a war on the straits. Again this is a very unlikely scenario given that taiwan is warming to beijing.

 

[nevidimka]

I find this threat very unlikely. There is no parity on nuclear forces between US and China like there was with the Soviet Union.
US knows where are China missiles and command centers. US would probably do a 1st strike that would paralyse China's retaliatory ability. It would destroy those nukes in their bunkers and destroy the command centers from issuing a return strike.

 

[Chino]

I think this is a great position for China to take.

Sometimes, it is best to leave no room for doubt about the seriousness of one's intentions.

 

[f-22fan12]

I think this is a great position for China to take.

Sometimes, it is best to leave no room for doubt about the seriousness of one's intentions.

Wrong. It would be a terrible thing to do for China. Plus, all of this rubbish is said by the generals of China, not the leaders who actually have control. China is just getting its first capable SSBN into service, and you can count on the fact that when it leaves port, it is being shadowed by U.S. Navy submarine. China has only 30 ICBMS and those can easily be hit as they are probobly already located. Don't forget U.S. missile defense.
Then the U.S. Retaliation would destroy China.

Generals from ALL countries have a tendency to talk trigger happy. This isn't serious.

 

[autumn child]

I don't think the US knows all of China's nuke arsenals whereabout and I don't think China is stupid enough to declare all of its nuclear arsenals. China will not full declare an increase in nuclear build up since it will tarnish its image of peaceful rise. No one except the top ranking officials in China knows the exact number. The nuclear doctrine of no first strike ensures that China have a very capable second strike options. This is why they have many mobile launch vehicles and SSBN.

Speaking of SSBN. Not all of China's SSBN are shadowed by american forces. No one even know how many 094 out there. All the number published are speculation by military analyst. The US do not have perfect knowledge and understanding of the PLA. For example the US was surprised by how fast 094 is manufactured and deployed a cople of years ago. This is also the reason why they pressure China to be more transparent with their military.

 

[f-22fan12]

I don't think the US knows all of China's nuke arsenals whereabout and I don't think China is stupid enough to declare all of its nuclear arsenals. China will not full declare an increase in nuclear build up since it will tarnish its image of peaceful rise. No one except the top ranking officials in China knows the exact number. The nuclear doctrine of no first strike ensures that China have a very capable second strike options. This is why they have many mobile launch vehicles and SSBN.

Speaking of SSBN. Not all of China's SSBN are shadowed by american forces. No one even know how many 094 out there. All the number published are speculation by military analyst. The US do not have perfect knowledge and understanding of the PLA. For example the US was surprised by how fast 094 is manufactured and deployed a cople of years ago. This is also the reason why they pressure China to be more transparent with their military.

You make an interesting and good argument. When the U.S. pressures China to increase transparency, that is really just a political thing aimed at showing China's growing military clout and also serves as an excuse by the U.S. to try to stop Chinese military power from growing.

 

[kliu1]

I doubt they would do so, perhaps only attack the Navy reinforcements from US. Nuking the US is worst thing you could do, leads to economic sanctions, military sanctions and then war (Cripple the economy then fight). Europe was held together by the help of the US so are most of its allies in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Australia etc). Attacking the US is like a running into the path of a bullet. Anyway any attack on US, would result in the world's major US allies hot on your tail, because you just wiped off the world's superpower and economic power.

Thats my opinion, of course I have no doubt that the Chinese military is big. I'm still sure that their policy of not using their nukes first is still there.

 

[SABRE]

The news article is 3 years old when there were some minor tensions over Taiwan and AFAIR there was a thread on this - even if no thread exists I don't see any relevance for such an old news to be discussed here. It is therefore I am locking this thread.

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