The US should drop its “Cold War mentality” and shoulder its responsibility about nuclear disarmament, China’s defence ministry said on Sunday, adding that Beijing would never use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states or nuclear weapon free zones. Beijing was reacting to the Nuclear Posture Review, a 74-page report published on Friday, which outlines Washington’s plans to diversify its nuclear arsenal to sharpen its deterrent. “China firmly opposes the NPR published by the United States department of defence,” Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Ren Guoqiang said on Sunday. Ren added that China has adhered to the policy of “no-first-use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances”. China has “always exercised the utmost restraint in the development of nuclear weapons and limited its nuclear capabilities to the minimum level required for national security”, he said.

Source: Hindustan Times February 04, 2018 04:18 UTC