Defense: No Nukes in Shanghai, Please

No Nukes in Shanghai, Please

The capstone of Navy Secretary John Lehman's visit to Peking last August was an agreement for three U.S. destroyers to call at Shanghai this year, the first such visit since the Communists took power in 1949. Talking to reporters last week, however, Chinese Communist Party Chief Hu Yaobang dropped a bit of a bomb. Asked by an Australian reporter whether the warships would be nuclear armed, Hu replied that the U.S. had pledged they would not be.

That China would not officially welcome American nuclear weapons was hardly surprising, but the announcement rekindled a touchy controversy. Only two months ago, New...

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