<p>Terming the reports as "totally false" and "made with ulterior motives", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, "Since the very day China got nuclear weapons, Chinese government has made a solemn pledge never to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time under any circumstance."<br /><br />"China has lived up to this," the spokesman said, as media reports, citing secret internal PLA documents outlined that China had framed a new nuclear doctrine contradicting its no-first-use of nuclear weapons, likely to fan concern in the United States, Japan, India and other regional powers about Beijing's nuclear intentions.<br /><br />The media reports said the newly revealed policy paper, called "Lowering the threshold of nuclear threats" may lead to People's Liberation Army adjusting "the nuclear threat policy if a nuclear missile-possessing country carries out a series of air strikes against key strategic targets in the country with absolutely superior conventional weapons."<br /><br />Japanese news agency Kyodo, quoting the PLA document had said, 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 pre-emptive nuclear strike.<br />Commenting on the document, Akio Takahara, a professor of contemporary Chinese politics at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Public Policy, said an adjustment of the PLA's nuclear threat policy as spelled out in the paper runs counter to President Hu Jintao's pledge that China will not launch a preemptive nuclear strike under any circumstances.<br /><br />"It is uncertain whether such policy adjustment represents a policy shift or has been in existence from before," Takahara said.<br /><br />"But a preemptive strike as assumed (in the documents) would apply to an extreme situation such as war with the United States, and that is almost inconceivable today. I think President Hu is aware of that."China has not publicly discussed its nuclear doctrine in public much since it became a nuclear power in 1964.<br /><br />Analysts often quote a Chinese White Paper presented in 1998 which stated that "from the first day it possessed nuclear weapons, China has solemnly declared its determination not to be the first to use such weapons at any time and in any circumstances, and later undertook unconditionally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones." </p>
<p>Terming the reports as "totally false" and "made with ulterior motives", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, "Since the very day China got nuclear weapons, Chinese government has made a solemn pledge never to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time under any circumstance."<br /><br />"China has lived up to this," the spokesman said, as media reports, citing secret internal PLA documents outlined that China had framed a new nuclear doctrine contradicting its no-first-use of nuclear weapons, likely to fan concern in the United States, Japan, India and other regional powers about Beijing's nuclear intentions.<br /><br />The media reports said the newly revealed policy paper, called "Lowering the threshold of nuclear threats" may lead to People's Liberation Army adjusting "the nuclear threat policy if a nuclear missile-possessing country carries out a series of air strikes against key strategic targets in the country with absolutely superior conventional weapons."<br /><br />Japanese news agency Kyodo, quoting the PLA document had said, 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 pre-emptive nuclear strike.<br />Commenting on the document, Akio Takahara, a professor of contemporary Chinese politics at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Public Policy, said an adjustment of the PLA's nuclear threat policy as spelled out in the paper runs counter to President Hu Jintao's pledge that China will not launch a preemptive nuclear strike under any circumstances.<br /><br />"It is uncertain whether such policy adjustment represents a policy shift or has been in existence from before," Takahara said.<br /><br />"But a preemptive strike as assumed (in the documents) would apply to an extreme situation such as war with the United States, and that is almost inconceivable today. I think President Hu is aware of that."China has not publicly discussed its nuclear doctrine in public much since it became a nuclear power in 1964.<br /><br />Analysts often quote a Chinese White Paper presented in 1998 which stated that "from the first day it possessed nuclear weapons, China has solemnly declared its determination not to be the first to use such weapons at any time and in any circumstances, and later undertook unconditionally not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones." </p>