next time you buy something "Made in China", think of this article

[MarkD]

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/28cfe55a-f4...00e2511c8.html

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Top Chinese general warns US over attack
By Alexandra Harney in Beijing and Demetri Sevastopulo and Edward Alden in Washington
Published: July 14 2005 21:59 | Last updated: July 15 2005 00:03

China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, a Chinese general said on Thursday.

“If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,” said General Zhu Chenghu.

Gen Zhu was speaking at a function for foreign journalists organised, in part, by the Chinese government. He added that China's definition of its territory included warships and aircraft.

“If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be determined to respond,” said Gen Zhu, who is also a professor at China's National Defence University.

“We . . . will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xian. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds . . . of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese.”

Gen Zhu is a self-acknowledged “hawk” who has warned that China could strike the US with long-range missiles. But his threat to use nuclear weapons in a conflict over Taiwan is the most specific by a senior Chinese official in nearly a decade.

However, some US-based China experts cautioned that Gen Zhu probably did not represent the mainstream People's Liberation Army view.

“He is running way beyond his brief on what China might do in relation to the US if push comes to shove,” said one expert with knowledge of Gen Zhu. “Nobody who is cleared for information on Chinese war scenarios is going to talk like this,” he added.

Gen Zhu's comments come as the Pentagon prepares to brief Congress next Monday on its annual report on the Chinese military, which is expected to take a harder line than previous years. They are also likely to fuel the mounting anti-China sentiment on Capitol Hill.

In recent months, a string of US officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, have raised concerns about China's military rise. The Pentagon on Thursday declined to comment on “hypothetical scenarios”.

Rick Fisher, a former senior US congressional official and an authority on the Chinese military, said the specific nature of the threat “is a new addition to China's public discourse”. China's official doctrine has called for no first use of nuclear weapons since its first atomic test in 1964. But Gen Zhu is not the first Chinese official to refer to the possibility of using such weapons first in a conflict over Taiwan.

Chas Freeman, a former US assistant secretary of defence, said in 1996 that a PLA official had told him China could respond in kind to a nuclear strike by the US in the event of a conflict with Taiwan. The official is believed to have been Xiong Guangkai, now the PLA's deputy chief of general staff.

Gen Zhu said his views did not represent official Chinese policy and he did not anticipate war with the US.

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Hopefully General Zhu does not have much influence.

MarkD

[Kalevera]

Well, it's been coming for a long time.

And just imagine how far we can get with most of this country trying to say women shi nin pengyou to an uncompromising government.

Completely O/T: I recommend a fantastic book by Nien Cheng, Life and Death in Shanghai.

best, whit

[Dash01]

I doubt very, very seriously that Chinese general was speaking only for himself or that his comments do not represent official (even if generally unspopken) Chinese government policy. At his age, he is surely a product of the so-called "cultural revolution" where people were sent to gulags for forced "re-education" or firing squads for suspected impure thoughts. In other words, this guy is steeped in group-think, so does not speak just for himself as a maverick, ever.

Every time you buy cheap counterfeit products from his country, or visit big-box retail stores and buy goods shipped here from his cournty, you are financing weapons that supply this general's army and supporting his strategic goals, which include domination of Asia, undermining of the US, and inevitable war with us.

Thank you MarkD for posting this.

[Martin in Bellevue]

Is the Chinese bid to buy Unocal. China will be effectively gaining the company's oil rights 20 years out, & expertise in Unocal's existing business structure. China represents a huge developing consumer market vying for scarce natural resources. My immediate neighbor is on the Unocal board.

In addition, last week I installed the first water pump that didn't make noise on my 535. It was new from China. The German Geba pump lasted 11 months I think, & squealed like a pig the whole time.

[Kalevera]

Well, it'd be a good thing for business...not necessarily the best thing, though. It would also be a convenient way for the Chinese government to return some of those billions in USD they're holding -- can you imagine what'll happen if they were to just DUMP that on the market?! Forget gas costing $5/gallon -- it'd be $10 in no time.

I'd like to see some clear alternatives to oil dependency. One intriguing development is the Stirling engine, which actually predates the internal combustion engine, applied to solar power. Somehow, I think people are stuck on the sound and feel of a gas powered car, though.

best, whit

[Brian C.]

....that was in The Washington Times....I think....that was about a Government "think-tank" that gives analysis on future possibilities. It said that many of those folks agree that China is about 6-8 years away from invading Taiwan. And how all the recent US Administrations have said that they would defend any invasion of Taiwan. They've steadily built up a supply of larger ships that would be capable of carrying troops. They have slowly upgraded their Navy and submarine fleet and seem to be on the verge of a position to vie for control of the shipping lanes between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It was a sobering thought about the World's future.

EDIT>>I found the article, and GOOD NEWS! That 6-8 year estimate is actually about 2-3 years. Great.
Washington Times Article

"Can't we all just get along?"
R. King


Brian C.

[Elekta]

What if the product reads,

Hecho en China

[Brian C.]

....it probably would!

[upallnight]

Brought an a/c relay for my PORSCHE packaged in a PORSCHE box but the relay which had BOSCH on it also had Made In China. Anyone know if MEXICO makes relays for a PORSCHE.

[ryan roopnarine]

china just(or was) poised to buy canadian gas/oil company husky reeeal soon. for people who live in metro areas of canadia, there are no husky gas stations any longer, so it might not matter to them. the middle parts, however.....it would be like the chineese buying texaco in the 1980s. at any rate...canada supplies about 25% of the US gas supply via oil, i wouldn't be suprised if it wasn't no.1 or no. 2 oil supplier, there's even a provision in NAFTA requiring canada to share oil with the us dependent upon either CAN's output or by oil need. its a sizeable amount, and is more than the US gets from the middle east (IIRC, venezuela comes in afterward in ranking) was thinking that if the deal had gone thru, i'd have seen either an up/down in gas prices afterward.