United States considered nuclear strike on China over Taiwan in 1958, classified documents reveal
The US also assumed that the Soviet Union would aid China and retaliate with nuclear weapons, according to the documents
Former military analyst Daniel Ellsberg is famous for his 1971 leak to US media of a top-secret Pentagon study on the Vietnam war known as the Pentagon Papers
US military planners pushed for nuclear strikes on mainland China in 1958 to protect Taiwan from an invasion by Communist forces, classified documents posted online by Daniel Ellsberg of
The Pentagon Papers television show.
US planners also assumed that the Soviet Union would aid China and retaliate with nuclear weapons – a price they deemed worth paying to protect Taiwan, according to the document, first reported by
‘US planned N strike on China in 1958’
National
May 23, 2021
WASHINGTON: The US military planners pushed for nuclear strikes on mainland China in 1958 to protect Taiwan from an invasion by Communist forces, classified documents posted online by Daniel Ellsberg of “Pentagon Papers” fame show.
The US planners also assumed that the Soviet Union would aid China and retaliate with nuclear weapons a price they deemed worth paying to protect Taiwan, according to the document, first reported by the New York Times.
Former military analyst Ellsberg told the Times that he copied the top-secret Taiwan crisis study in the early 1970s, and is releasing it as tensions mount again between the United States and China over Taiwan.
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Daniel Ellsberg – seen here in 2010 – is a former US military analyst best known for his leak of the so-called Pentagon Papers in 1971. AFP
US mulled nuclear strike on China over Taiwan in 1958, documents reveal
Sun, 23 May 2021
US military planners pushed for nuclear strikes on mainland China in 1958 to protect Taiwan from an invasion by Communist forces, classified documents posted online by Daniel Ellsberg of “Pentagon Papers” fame show.
US planners also assumed that the Soviet Union would aid China and retaliate with nuclear weapons – a price they deemed worth paying to protect Taiwan, according to the document, first reported by The New York Times.