'We must go NUCLEAR on Trump' Chinese media calls for more warheads after US election
CHINESE media with ties to the Communist government has called on Beijing to arm itself with more nuclear warheads in response to the election of Donald Trump.
A leader column in the Global Times said: "China won't pay into Trump's protection racket. It should use the money to build more strategic nuclear arms and accelerate the deployment of the DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile.
"China's military spending in 2017 should be augmented significantly.
"We need to get better prepared militarily regarding the Taiwan question to ensure that those who advocate Taiwan's independence will be punished, and take precautions in case of US provocations in the South China Sea."
Global Times is a Beijing-based English-language newspaper under the People's Daily - an official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.
The President-elect said on Thursday the US needed to improve its relationship with China days after he sparked a major diplomatic row by speaking over the phone with the president of Taiwan, angering Beijing which considers it a breakaway province.
Trump criticised China repeatedly during his presidential campaign and triggered a furious protest from Beijing last week after speaking by phone with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan.
But yesterday, Trump told a rally in Iowa: "One of the most important relationships we must improve, and we have to improve, is our relationship with China."
He added: "They haven't played by the rules, and I know it's time that they're going to start."
Philippine's Duterte imitates Donald Trump
A second editorial published by rival newspaper China Daily warned that Beijing should now "prepare for the worst".
It read: "China has to prepare for the worst, even though it will continue to do all it can to maintain a healthy bilateral relationship.
"What has happened over the past weeks tends to suggest that Sino-US relations are facing uncertainty as never before, as Trump's words are not necessarily more bark than bite."