China has expressed "serious concern" over a massive missile development program of the United States on January 13, describing it as "going against the tide of times and being harmful to the global arms control efforts."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao made the remarks in response to a report at a regular press conference on January 13 that the Clinton administration required US congress to allocate additional 2.2 billion US dollars for the development of National Missile Defense system (NMD).

United States, already a country with the world's largest nuclear and conventional weaponry, should have again put great efforts to develop NMD and Theater Missile Defense system (TMD) in the beginning of the new century, Zhu said.

"Such move goes against the tide of our times and is detrimental to the global efforts of arms control and disarmament,' he said, adding it will have an extensive and deep adverse impact on the international and regional strategic balance and stability in the 21st century.

He stressed that China believed that the development, deployment and transfer of any anti-missile systems with strategic defense potentials will not enhance security or curb missile technology proliferation but will eventually undermine security and instigate missile technology proliferation. "It should be the noted that US's move has violated the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM)," he stressed.

The spokesman said that ABM, a document significant for maintaining global strategic balance and stability and the nuclear disarmament process, should be strictly observed.

Zhu also called for efforts of the international community to safeguard ABM. On December 1, 1999, he said, the 54th United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution jointly submitted by Russia, China and Belarus on the maintenance and adherence of ABM.The resolution, passed with votes of overwhelming majority, demonstrated the any move by any country to revise ABM or develop anti-missile systems will surely be opposed.

"We urged relevant countries to seriously consider the strong call from the international community and abandon the above-mentioned anti-missile development programs," he said. (Xinhua)