Beijing plays down general's
threats
By Richard McGregor in Beijing and Demetri
Sevastopulo in Washington
 Beijing
on Friday distanced itself from comments by a senior Chinese
general that China could use nuclear weapons against the US in
the event of any military conflict with America over Taiwan.
“What he talked about were just his personal views,” said Shen
Guofang, an assistant minister of foreign affairs.
In an interview with foreign reporters in Beijing on
Thursday, Major General Zhu Chenghu, who is also a dean at
China's National Defence University, said Beijing should
respond with nuclear weapons if the US targeted Chinese
territory.
“We Chinese will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all
cities east of Xian [in central China],” he said. “Of course
the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds of cities
will be destroyed by the Chinese.”
Taiwan on Friday criticised his remarks but steered clear
of blaming the Chinese government. Michael You, vice-chairman
of the mainland affairs council, Taipei's cabinet-level China
policy body, said: “The statement reveals the ferocious face
of the hawks in China. It should be condemned and the person
making it should apologise.”
Chinese government officials emphasised that Gen Zhu's
remarks were seen as a minority opinion and being the first to
use nuclear weapons would contradict Beijing's military
strategy.
Gen Zhu, who is understood to have made similar comments in
the past, said his remarks were his personal opinion and not
government policy. But his comments come at a sensitive time
for US-China military relations.
The Pentagon is next week expected to release its annual
report on the Chinese military, which is likely to take a more
hardline stance than previous years. A string of US officials
have raised concerns about the rise of the Chinese military
recently. Gen Zhu's comments are also likely to further
inflame anti-China sentiment in Washington. Lawmakers have
complained of unfair trade practices, allegations of currency
manipulation, and opposition to a bid by CNOOC, a state-owned
Chinese oil company, for US-owned Unocal.
“This one sentence from a PRC general has probably nuked
any remaining possibility that CNOOC will succeed in its bid
for Unocal,” said Andy Rothman, a China strategist with CLSA,
a brokerage, in Shanghai.
Some Washington analysts caution that Gen Zhu's comments
should not be read as official Chinese policy. But Michael
O'Hanlon, defence analyst at the Brookings Institution, said
Gen Zhu stated a reality that cannot be ignored. “He was right
on the merits, but as a policy statement it was a stupid thing
to say.” Mr Shen played down any conflict with the US emerging
over Taiwan, saying Washington had consistently recognised
Beijing's claim to sovereignty over the island.
“We don't wish to see any dispute or disagreement between
the US and China, or any scenario of conflict with the US,” he
said.
China has long vowed to retake Taiwan by force, should its
government declare formal independence from Beijing, a
scenario under which the US may use its military to defend the
island from attacks.
Mr Zhu's claim that China might destroy hundreds of US
cities might be beyond the capability of the country's nuclear
forces at the moment, according to a paper published last
month by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Quoting “the
intelligence community”, the paper said China would increase
its strategic nuclear warheads from “18 to 75-100” over the
next 15 years, primarily targeted against the US.
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