[chalst]

All of the most populous, productive area of China are concentrated along the coast and around the four main inland cities: over 3/4s of Chinese GDP comes from these, which cover relatively little area. China might be less vulnerable than the USSR was to targetted nuclear strikes, but I doubt it is less so than the US, and I doubt Chinese leadership believe China would have the advantage against the US if a military conflict turned nuclear.

Who made the statement?

[Jd]

There was a Chinese general (Zhu Chenghu) who has made several controversial statements to this end, including that initiating nuclear war would be acceptable in case of US intrusion in Taiwan (still considered by most mainland Chinese as a Chinese possession). However, to the best of my knowledge he hasn't been in the press the last couple of years.