Whoopdeedoo bring it on! I've go a travellin' yurt and camel.
--- In [email protected], anonymousff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > But of course China could invade Taiwan or do almost anything else > with impunity by threatening to flood the Treasury bill and other > markets with their $600 billion of dollar holdings, causing Treasuries > to plunge, substantially raising long-term interest rates, doubling or > tripling mortgage rates over night, severley popping the real estate > bubble, plunging the US into a deep depression (that even SSRIs will > not help.) > > __________________________ > > China `ready to use N-weapons against US' > By Alexandra Harney in Beijing > > China is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the US if it is > attacked by Washington during a confrontation over Taiwan, according > to a senior Chinese military official. > > > "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," Zhu Chenghu, a major general in the > People's Liberation Army, said at an official briefing. > > Mr Zhu, who is also a professor at China's National Defence > University, was speaking at a function for foreign journalists > organised, in part, by the Chinese government. He added that China's > definition of its territory includes warships and aircraft. > > "If the Americans are determined to interfere [then] we will be > determined to respond," Mr Zhu said. "We Chinese 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." Mr Zhu is a > self-acknowledged "hawk" who has warned previously 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. > > 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 Mr 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 1999 > 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. > > "In the end you care more about Los Angeles than you do about Taipei," > Mr Freeman quoted this official as saying. The official is believed to > have been Xiong Guangkai, now the PLA's deputy chief of general staff. > > The rationale for the new threats is unclear. China's Ministry of > Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment. > > Mr Zhu, who has risen from the rank of colonel over the past five > years, insisted he was expressing his personal views, and that they > did not represent the policy of the Chinese government. Nor was he > anticipating war between China and the US. > > But he said that, because China did not have the capability to fight a > conventional war against the US, the threat to escalate might be the > only way to stop a war. > > His comments could provide insight into the thinking among some in the > PLA amid growing anxiety in Washington about its capabilities. Last > month, Donald Rumsfeld, defence secretary, voiced concern about > China's military build-up. > > Additional reporting by Edward Alden in Washington To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
