BEIJING, Aug. 17 -- China firmly opposes the so-called "China military threat" hyped up by the US and Japan to make up excuses for their closer military ties, provoke bloc confrontation and undermine regional peace and stability, said Chinese Defense Spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang on Friday.
At their recent "2+2" Ministerial Meeting, the US and Japan announced the reconstitution of the US Forces Japan (USFJ) and expressed concerns over China's ongoing and rapid expansion of nuclear weapons arsenal. Lloyd Austin, US Secretary of Defense, said at the first US-Japan Ministerial Meeting on Extended Deterrence that "extended deterrence" is at the core of US-Japan alliance.
When being asked to comment on these, Snr. Col. Zhang replied that as we all know, the US poses the biggest nuclear threat to the world. In possession of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, the US follows a nuclear policy that allows first-use of nuclear weapons. In recent years, the US has invested heavily to miniaturize nuclear weapons, lowering the threshold of their use in real-combat, and used nuclear weapons as a bait to hijack its allies and partners.
"Its irresponsible decisions and actions have resulted in the proliferation of nuclear risks, and its attempts to maintain hegemony and intimidate the world with nuclear power have been fully exposed," the spokesperson said.
He further pointed out that as the only country victimized by nuclear strikes, Japan is not learning lessons from history, but panders to the US to gain the so-called "nuclear deterrence". This will only exacerbate regional tensions and increase the risk of nuclear proliferation and nuclear conflicts.
Zhang stressed that China pursues a nuclear strategy of self-defense, and is committed to the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons. China does not engage in any nuclear arms race with any other country, and keeps its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required for national security. Countries that do not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against China will never be threatened by China's nuclear weapons.
"We urge the US and Japan to abandon their Cold-War mentality, recognize that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, reduce the role of nuclear weapons in national and collective security policies, and take concrete actions to promote global strategic stability, instead of doing the opposite," he added.