China will not participate in negotiations on any trilateral nuclear disarmament agreement, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.
The United States recently raised the possibility of reaching a trilateral arms control deal with Russia and China, according to media reports.
Spokesperson Geng Shuang dismissed such a possibility at a press briefing. "China unswervingly follows a path of peaceful development and upholds a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. Our defense spending is reasonable and moderate. Our nuclear forces have been at the lowest level of national security needs and are not on the same scale with the United States and Russia."
"We're opposed to accusations from any country on arms control issues," Geng said.
China has always stood for the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons, he added.
China believes it is imperative for countries with the largest nuclear arsenals to earnestly fulfill their special and prior responsibility in nuclear disarmament in line with the consensus of the international community, and continue to substantially reduce nuclear weapons in a verifiable and irreversible manner, creating conditions for other countries to participate, Geng said.
