China hits back at US, says nuclear arsenal is minimum needed
Defence ministry says Pentagon review naming China and Russia as potential threats is ‘presumptuous speculation’ and it has been ‘extremely restrained’
The US should drop its “cold war mentality”and take action to reduce its nuclear arsenal, China’s defence ministry said on Sunday after the Pentagon described China and Russia as potential threats.
Defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said in a statement that the US should “correctly understand China’s strategic intent and see China’s national defence and military build-up in an objective way”.
In the US review of nuclear policy released on Friday, the first one since 2010, the Pentagon said China had pursued new nuclear capabilities and challenged US interests in the Western Pacific.
It said China and Russia had “added new types of nuclear capabilities to their arsenals, increased the salience of nuclear forces in their strategies and plans, and engaged in increasingly aggressive behaviours, including in outer space and cyberspace”.
The Pentagon document, known as the Nuclear Posture Review, also urged Beijing to establish “meaningful dialogue” with Washington.
But Beijing dismissed the review as “presumptuous speculation”, saying China had strictly followed a “no first use” policy – meaning it would not use nuclear weapons unless it was attacked with them – and had been “always extremely restrained” in its nuclear weapons development.