China rejects US-Japan statement concerning nuclear expansion

The Foreign Ministry, on Monday, denounced a US-Japan statement in which the two countries expressed concerns regarding the so-called China's expansion of its nuclear arsenal, saying that the statement attempted to justify Washington and Tokyo's own military buildup by misleading the public through a manipulated narrative.

"China firmly rejects this and has made serious demarches," the ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Reiterating China's commitment to a self-defensive nuclear strategy, Wang said China has pledged the no-first-use of nuclear weapons and has kept its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security.

"As long as a country does not use nuclear weapons against China, it does not need to worry about China's nuclear weapons," Wang said.

In fact, the spokesman said it is the negative movements of the US and Japan that the international community should be vigilant of. He referred to Washington's efforts to form a Cold-War-style small clique by selling nuclear-powered submarines to its allies and Tokyo's opposition to the US' relinquishment of its policy of first use of nuclear weapons.

"We urge and advise the two countries to discard the Cold-War mentality and bloc confrontation, fulfill their disarmament and nonproliferation obligations and play their due roles in safeguarding regional and international peace and stability," Wang said.