China Reiterates Position on NMD, TMDChina opposes the US development of National Missile Defense (NMD) and Theater Missile Defense (TMD), said the Chinese foreign minister's assistant Saturday in Bangkok, stressing that this is China's basic stand.Answering a question at the 33rd ASEAN Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC) joint conference, Wang Yi stated that the development of the two missile systems by the U.S. will lead to a new round of arms race and do disservice to global peace and security. But, Wang stressed, the NMD, TMD issue is not an issue existing between China and the United States only, rather an issue between the international community and the United States. Therefore, he hoped that the United States could carefully listen to the voice of the international community and give serious consideration to the NMD, TMD issue. On China's relations with ASEAN countries, he said, China is willing to develop relations oriented towards the 21st century in the spirit of good neighborly partnership of mutual trust, mutual benefit and mutual cooperation. As all of them are developing countries, the assistant added, China believes that there is much room for furthering relations with the ASEAN nations, particularly in the areas of finance, science and technology, human resources, and the development of the Mekong region. He said he is optimistic about the future of China's relations with ASEAN countries because they have common interests not only in the Asia-Pacific region, but also in the world arena. Foreign ministers or their representatives from ASEAN members and its ten dialogue partners including China were present at the press conference. |
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