A CHINESE military officer has raised the spectre of nuclear weapons and warned Australia not to side with the United States and Japan as a territorial dispute in the East China Sea continues to escalate.

Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu, of the National Defence University, blamed America's ''orchestration'' and Japan's ''militarism'' for rising tensions over disputed islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

Liu Mingfu.

''America is the global tiger and Japan is Asia's wolf and both are now madly biting China,'' Colonel Liu said. ''Of all the animals, Chinese people hate the wolf the most.''

China was a peaceful nation but it would fight to the death if seriously attacked, he said.