Senior PLA commander spells out defensive nature of China's nuclear arsenal

[aimarraul]

Senior PLA commander spells out defensive nature of China's nuclear arsenal
( Source: Xinhua ) 2010-August-14 07:26

　　BEIJING, Aug.13 (Xinhua) -- China's nuclear weapons are for self-defense purposes, a top commander in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China strategic missile corps said.

　　"If no power presses for nuclear war with China, the Second Artillery Force will always keep silent," General Jing Zhiyuan, commander of the PLA Second Artillery Force that controls China's nuclear weapons stockpile, said in an article published in the latest issue of China Armed Forces.

　　China's development of a nuclear arms capacity is limited to that of the lowest level necessary to safeguard national security, Jing said in the article in the quarterly magazine affiliated to the Xinhua News Agency.

　　"We will firmly pursue a defensive nuclear strategy and resolutely implement the 'no first use' policy," he said.

　　China has long insisted its military nuclear drive is purely defensive in nature.

　　At the Nuclear Security Summit in April this year, Chinese President Hu Jintao put forward a five-point proposal calling on all nuclear-armed countries to keep their nuclear weapons facilities safe.

　　Jing said China's nuclear military forces will carry out Hu's five proposals and actively support international efforts to enhance nuclear security.

　　"We, the Second Artillery Force, will always stick to the principle of limited development of nuclear weapons and we will not engage in a nuclear arms race," Jing wrote.

　　China began building its own nuclear arsenal after the country exploded its first atomic bomb in the deserts northwestern China in 1964.

　　In 1971, the country became the fifth country in the world to launch a nuclear submarine.

　　China successfully tested a carrier rocket in 1980, shooting it from northwest China to the South Pacific to showcase its intercontinental strike capabilities.

　　It also conducted an underwater missile launch in 1982.

　　In 1996, China declared it would suspend nuclear testing to promote nuclear disarmament.

 

[lcloo]

China is the first nation in the world to declare the non-first strike policy. Her nuclear weapons are for detering or retaliation against enemy's first strike.

Her quantity of nuclear war heads is just about right for such policy. If an enemy were to strike first, China's nuclear warhead would probably cut down to half, or even more. That left China having even less war heads to strike back.

 

[TorontoNoctis]

Does anyone else get nervous about local commanders having access to nuclear SRBMs?

There's a good reason why the USA, Russia and so on got rid of their Davy Crockets, SRBMs and so on. It's called nuclear tripwire. Strategic weapons should only be deployable by decision at the highest level.

I would rather China have a larger number of nuclear weapons stored in silos than have a small number moving around. I just hope Chinese PAL is extremely sophisticated and I hope the Chinese only recruit the most loyal professional soldiers into the second artillery.

 

[below_freezing]

China is the first nation in the world to declare the non-first strike policy. Her nuclear weapons are for detering or retaliation against enemy's first strike.

Her quantity of nuclear war heads is just about right for such policy. If an enemy were to strike first, China's nuclear warhead would probably cut down to half, or even more. That left China having even less war heads to strike back.

yes, we do not need to destroy the world, only the country that launches against us.

therefore, anything less than 1000 missiles is not a deterrance. even if 90% of nukes are deployed, 90% of the deployed a first strike, 90% are able to be launched, 90% are launched with the correct coordinates and 90% are not intercepted, only 59% will hit their targets.

it takes 3 warheads to bring down 1 major city.

therefore we can only destroy 200 major cities, even if we had 1000 nuclear weapons.