Beijing vows action over US missile plan
BEIJING: China warned yesterday it would take unspecified countermeasures if the United States goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.
The comments come days after US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said the US was now free to deploy the weapons following its withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia.
“China will not stand idly by and will be forced to take countermeasures should the US deploy intermediate-range ground-based missiles in this part of the world,” said Fu Cong, the director of arms control at the Chinese foreign ministry.
“And we also call on our neighbours, our neighbouring countries, to exercise prudence and not to allow a US deployment of its intermediate-range missiles on (their) territory,” he added, naming Australia, Japan and South Korea.
“That would not serve the national security interest of these countries,” he said.
Mr Fu said it was important to recognise the US is proposing to install the weapons at China’s “doorstep”.
“Especially for a country that has experienced the Cuban missile crisis, I think the American people should understand China’s feelings.”
Australia on Monday ruled out the possibility of the missiles being deployed on its soil, saying Canberra had not even been asked to host them.
The INF treaty was considered a cornerstone of the global arms control architecture but the United States said the bilateral pact had given other countries — namely China — free rein to develop their own longrange missiles.
Mr Esper, the new Pentagon chief, said on Saturday that Washington would like to deploy the missiles “sooner rather than later”.
The rise of a more assertive China has worried traditional US allies such as Australia and New Zealand, and Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea have alarmed neighbours with competing territorial claims to the strategic waterway.
Mr Esper did not specify where the US intended to deploy the weapons but experts say the most likely location is the island of Guam.
Mr Fu said that any deployment in Guam would be viewed as “a very provocative action on the part of the US and it can be very dangerous”.