China: will not use nukes first

In event of armed conflict, China would not be the first to use nuclear weapons, the commander of China's nuclear missle forces, General Jing Zhiyuan, assured US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld when the two met at a China military complex, the AP reported. Later, at a joint press conference, Rumsfeld's China counterpart, General Cao Gangchuan, denied Pentagon claims that China understated defense spending.