On February 21st, sina.com, the largest Chinese-language infotainment web portal, carried a story titled “U.S. Air Force General Says China, Iran and Venezuela Should Be Regarded as Threats.” It discusses an article--“China, Iran Top USAF’s Threat List”--recently published in Defense News that describes in detail remarks made by General Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff, at a February 8th Air Force Association conference.

Shortly after the story was posted, reader comments began pouring in. By Tuesday morning China time, there were more than 3,500 of them. The overwhelming majority bristle with rage. Below are translations of two representative responses.

The opinion of the four-star general speaks volumes about the hostility the U.S. harbors towards China. It would be great for China if Iran had nuclear weapons. The more countries there are with nuclear weapons, the better it is for China, because it would decrease the odds of a direct China-U.S. conflict.

The United States is deploying F-22s in Okinawa. Treacherous indeed are its intentions. We should act tough, like Russia. Aim medium-range missiles at the Okinawa airport where the F-22s are. If the F-22s invade our air space and violate our sovereignty, our medium-range missiles will strike the airport… By deploying the F-22s in Okinawa the United States is trying to provoke China and disrupt the regional security balance. That is intolerable. We should demand that the U.S. withdraw its F-22s; otherwise, we will deploy medium-range missiles in North Korea, or Venezuela, Cuba and Iran.

In a similar vein, the February 26th edition of People’s Daily published an article titled “In the Face of the ‘China Threat Proposition,’ China Cannot Choose to Remain Silent.” The piece was authored by Jin Yinan, deputy director of the Strategic Research Department at the PLA National Defense University, which operates under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Military Commission. Jin’s work bears the subheading “China never issues threats to others; China is never intimidated by threats from others.”

Jin Yinan contends that the “China Threat Proposition” has been circulating since the late 19th century, beginning with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882--a time when China was actually on the decline. Therefore, he argues, it is a notion that defies logic: “The United States has its military deployed around the world. Its aircraft carriers are cruising all over the globe. Its military budget accounts for half of total world military expenditures. It has more satellites in outer space than do all other countries combined. The United States Navy has announced its intention to control 16 strategic sea lanes, seven of which are in the Atlantic…two in the Mediterranean…two in the Indian Ocean…and five in the Pacific… This pretty much covers all major waterways in the world. Since the end of the Cold War, in addition to its so-called ‘surgical strikes,’ the United States military has engaged in the following large-scale operations, all of which can be characterized as wars: the Gulf War, the Kosovo War, the Afghan War, and the Iraq War.”

The article concludes with a declaration: “We have no choice. We must be pro-active, especially when others are trying to smear us. We cannot give up our right to speak… We Chinese never issue threats to others; we Chinese are never intimidated by threats from others.”

That should be a relief to any Taiwanese who mistakenly thought that the 900 ballistic missiles pointed at them from mainland China were meant to serve as some kind of threat.