Another Chinese Threat

And y'all think I'm a nutcase when I presage war with China. From the Financial Times:

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.”

And what would you think if California was suddenly and totally annihilated by a Chinese nuke one morning? I suspect it might change a few minds.

Standing by our friends and allies in the Pacific must not be contingent upon Chinese threats or the lack thereof. I would hope that if the evil that pervades the mainland made even the slightest attempt to invade the free democracy on Taiwan that we would commit fully to their defense. Conventionally, preferably. But the communists should be under no illusion that we would wipe the middle kingdom from the face of the planet if they dared to initiate a nuclear conflict.