U.S., NATO greatest source of risk to international peace, security: defense spokesperson

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The United States and NATO are the greatest source of risk and instability to international peace and security, a Chinese defense spokesperson said on Thursday.

Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks when responding to a media query regarding the communiqué of the recent NATO Vilnius Summit.

Tan said that as a military bloc, NATO is known to have the world's largest nuclear arsenal and pursues a policy of first use of nuclear weapons.

In recent years, the United States has continued to promote nuclear sharing by peddling so-called "security threats." According to reports, the United States deployed more than 100 nuclear weapons in some European countries, seriously exacerbating the risk of global nuclear proliferation and nuclear conflict.

According to Tan, China firmly pursues a nuclear strategy of self-defense and is always committed to a policy of "no first use" of nuclear weapons.

"We urge NATO to take practical action to downgrade the role of nuclear weapons in national security and collective security policies and effectively maintain global strategic stability," said Tan.