Chinese Threat: Pakistan and China Warn our US About War

China has officially put our United States on notice that Washington's planed attack on Pakistan will be interpreted as an act of aggression against Beijing. This BLUNT warning represents the first known strategic ultimatum received by the United States in half a century, going back to Soviet warnings during the Berlin crisis of 1958-1961, and indicates the grave danger of general war growing from the US-Pakistan confrontation. Responding to reports that China has asked the US to respect Pakistan's sovereignty in the aftermath of the Bin Laden operation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu, used a May 19 press briefing to state Beijing's categorical demand that the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan must be respected". According to Pakistani diplomatic sources cited by the "Times of India", China has "warned in unequivocal terms that any attack on Pakistan would be construed as an attack on China". This ultimatum was reportedly delivered at the May 9 China-US strategic dialogue and economic talks in Washington, where the Chinese delegation was led by Vice Prime Minister Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo. Chinese warnings are implicitly backed by that nation's nuclear missiles, including an estimated 66 ICBM's, some capable of striking the US, plus 118 intermediate-range missiles, 36 submarine-launched missiles, and numerous shorter-range systems.