Mao’s callous attitude toward nuclear war

After the 2^nd Taiwan Strait crisis, Mao Zedong confirmed to Khrushchev “that he would be only too happy for China to fight a nuclear war with America alone. ‘For our ultimate victory’ he offered, ‘for the total eradication of the imperialists we [ie. the Chinese people, who had not been consulted] are willing to endure the first [US nuclear] strike. All it is, is a big pile of people dying”[1].

 

1955 to the Finnish ambassador, “America’s atom bombs are too few to wipe out the Chinese”[2].

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[1] Jung, C., Halliday, J. (2005). Mao: The unknown story. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, p. 414.

[2] Ibid.