Editing Three Gorges Dam (section)

=== National security ===
A 2004 [[United States Department of Defense]] report stated that "Since Taipei cannot match Beijing’s ability to field offensive systems, proponents of strikes against the mainland apparently hope that merely presenting credible [[Civilian victimization|threats to China's urban population]] or high-value targets, such as the Three Gorges Dam, will deter Chinese military coercion."<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=August 6, 2009 | url=http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/d20040528PRC.pdf | title=Annual report on the military power of the People's Republic of China | publisher=[[US Department of Defense]] | date=2004 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806235538/http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/d20040528PRC.pdf | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartfiel |first1=Robert |last2=Job |first2=Brian L. |title=Raising the risks of war: defence spending trends and competitive arms processes in East Asia |journal=The Pacific Review |date=15 March 2007 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1080/09512740601133138}}</ref> In response, the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China)|Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] characterized the U.S. report as "[[Cold War]] mentality harbouring evil intentions."<ref>{{cite web |title=China decries US advice for Taiwan |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/6/16/china-decries-us-advice-for-taiwan |website=Al Jazeera |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250511094337/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/6/16/china-decries-us-advice-for-taiwan |archive-date=11 May 2025 |date=16 June 2004}}</ref><ref name=smh1764>{{cite web |title=China flexes its muscles over Taiwan |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/china-flexes-its-muscles-over-taiwan-20040617-gdj541.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250511093955/https://www.smh.com.au/world/china-flexes-its-muscles-over-taiwan-20040617-gdj541.html |archive-date=11 May 2025 |date=17 June 2004}}</ref> The [[People's Liberation Army]] Lieutenant General Liu Yuan cautioned that "[It] will not be able to stop war. It will have the exact opposite of the desired effect."<ref name=smh1764/> He also remarked that China would be "seriously on guard against threats from [[Taiwan independence]] terrorists."<ref name=smh1764/>

Sung Chao-wen, a senior advisory committee member of the Taiwanese [[Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China)|Ministry of Defense]], called online remarks about using missiles to destroy the Three Gorges Dam "ridiculous", saying that the dam's high-strength reinforced concrete could withstand a small nuclear weapon, missile attacks would have to go through multiple layers of ground and air defenses, and missiles would only deliver minimal damage if they even could reach the dam.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3269169 |title=Can Taiwanese missiles destroy Three Gorges Dam? Only tiny dents: expert |website=Taiwan News |date=November 6, 2017 |archive-date=December 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227025640/https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3269169 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=301775 |title=台灣射彈攻擊三峽大壩？綠網民遭專家打臉直轟：軍事白癡！ |website=[[SET News]] |date=November 6, 2017}}</ref> Zhang Boting, deputy secretary-general of China Society for Hydropower Engineering, said that the Three Gorges Dam was designed as a concrete [[gravity dam]] and would therefore be resistant to [[nuclear attack]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1928774/chinas-three-gorges-dam-can-survive-nuclear-attack-says-nations |title=China's Three Gorges Dam 'can survive nuclear attack' says nation's hydropower expert after academics raise safety concerns |website=South China Morning Post |date=March 22, 2016}}</ref>

Debate among Chinese scholars and analysts about the basic principles of China's [[no first use]] (NFU) of nuclear weapons policy includes questions about whether to add narrow exceptions, such as acts that produce catastrophic consequences equivalent to that of a nuclear attack, including attacks intended to destroy the Three Gorges Dam.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pan |first=Zhenqiang |title=Understanding: Chinese Nuclear Thinking |date=2016 |publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |location=Washington, DC |chapter=China's No First Use of Nuclear Weapons|jstor=resrep26903}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fravel |first1=M. Taylor |last2=Medeiros |first2=Evan S. |title=China's Search for Assured Retaliation: The Evolution of Chinese Nuclear Strategy and Force Structure |journal=International Security |date=October 2010 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=48–87 |doi=10.1162/ISEC_a_00016|hdl=1721.1/60548 |s2cid=38157268 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Supporters of the NFU policy, however, have maintained the view that foreign conventional attacks of such targets including the dam—intended to cause mass [[civilian casualties]] and economic losses—are highly unlikely.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Li |first1=Nan |title=China’s Evolving Nuclear Strategy: Will China Drop “No First Use?” |url=https://jamestown.org/program/chinas-evolving-nuclear-strategy-will-china-drop-no-first-use/ |website=[[Jamestown Foundation]] |date=12 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250515054935/https://jamestown.org/program/chinas-evolving-nuclear-strategy-will-china-drop-no-first-use/ |archive-date=15 May 2025}}</ref>