China asks India, US not to ‘disrupt peace’

BEIJING: China on Friday asked India and the US not to disturb peace in the strategic South China Sea, while reiterating its opposition to New Delhi joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Asked about cooperation between India and the US in the Indo-Pacific region which includes the South China Sea, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the situation in the disputed region was “cooling down”.

“We hope other countries especially non-regional countries can respect the efforts by the regional countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea and can play a constructive role in this regard,” Geng said.

Asked if there is any change in China’s stand on India at the NSG plenary meeting underway in the Swiss capital Bern, he said: “As for non-NPT counties being admitted to the group, I can tell you there is no change to China’s position.”

“I want to point out that the NSG has clear rules on admission of new members and the Seoul plenary made clear mandates on how to deal with this issue. With these rules and mandates, we need to act as they dictate,” he said.

“As for the criteria regarding admitting new members, as far as I know this plenary meeting in Switzerland will follow mandate of the Seoul plenary and uphold principle of decision upon consensus and continue to discuss various dimensions like technology, law, legal and political aspects of non-NPT countries admission the group,” he said.

China’s repeated stonewalling of India’s membership bid in the NSG has become a major stumbling block in bilateral relations.

After India’s application for entry into the elite group which controls the nuclear trade, Pakistan, the all-weather ally of China, too applied with the tacit backing of Beijing.

India is backed by the US and a majority of the group’s members, but China remains staunchly opposed to its inclusion in the group.