US considered nuclear strike on China over Taiwan in 1958
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US considered nuclear strike on China to protect Taiwan from Communist forces in 1958
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Risk of Nuclear War Over Taiwan in 1958 Said to Be Greater Than Publicly Known
The famed source of the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, has made another unauthorized disclosure and wants to be prosecuted for it.
Soldiers in 1958 on Kinmen Island, also called Quemoy. According to an apparently still-classified document, American officials doubted they could defend Taiwan with only conventional weapons. Credit.John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection, via Getty Images
May 22, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON When Communist Chinese forces began shelling islands controlled by Taiwan in 1958, the United States rushed to back up its ally with military force including drawing up plans to carry out nuclear strikes on mainland China, according to an apparently still-classified document that sheds new light on how dangerous that crisis was.