China In Diplomatic Gaffe, Backtracks After Leaked Report Discloses Country Ready To Use Preemptive Nukes

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/06/2011

This morning China is forced to do some unpleasant diplomatic damage control. After an earlier report in Kyodo News disclosed leaked documents that China has revised its escalation doctrine to initiate a pre-emptive nuclear strike in response to a conventional attack, the country is now furiously scrambling to refute any such “interpretations.” After all the last thing the already volatile North-South Korean theater needs is the worry of an unstable big brother next door who may just type in the launch codes if an artillery shell veers a few degrees off course. In its original report Kyodo announced that The Chinese military will consider launching a preemptive nuclear strike if the country finds itself faced with a critical situation in a war with another nuclear state, internal documents showed Wednesday. The newly revealed policy, called “Lowering the threshold of nuclear threats,” may contradict China’s strategy of no first use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances, and is likely to fan concern in the United States, Japan and other regional powers about Beijing’s nuclear capability. Per obtained documents, the People’s Liberation Army’s strategic missile forces, the Second Artillery Corps, “will adjust the nuclear threat policy if a nuclear missile-possessing country carries out a series of air strikes against key strategic targets in our country with absolutely superior conventional weapons.” China will first warn an adversary about a nuclear strike, but if the enemy attacks Chinese territory with conventional forces the PLA “must carefully consider” a preemptive nuclear strike. Of course, there is only one country that has “absolutely superior conventional weapons” and they know it. Which begs the question: why was this leaked now, and considering the recent spike in Chinese stealth fighter sightings, is China trying to send its biggest debtor “ally” a not so secret  message?