The Chinese have nukes too. You bring out your nukes, they bring out THEIR nukes, and then you're on the slippery slope towards Armageddon.
(Or so goes the theory, anyway. In reality nobody knows how a nuclear-armed adversary would respond to that Very Big Message, because it's outside the realm of previous human experience. For all we know it could have the opposite effect, causing them to panic and unload their whole nuclear arsenal out of fear.)