Chinese military slams U.S. for attempting to maintain hegemony with nuclear weapons

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense spokesperson on Friday denounced the United States for attempting to maintain hegemony and intimidate the world with nuclear weapons.

Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to a media query regarding the United States and Japan reconstituting the U.S. Forces Japan, and their accusation of China for expanding nuclear weapons arsenal.

The United States and Japan recently have been playing up the so-called "China military threat" to make up excuses for closer military ties. Such acts provoke bloc confrontation and undermine regional peace and stability, Zhang said, expressing firm opposition.

The United States poses the biggest nuclear threat to the world, Zhang said, adding that it possesses the largest nuclear arsenal in the world and follows a nuclear policy that allows first-use of nuclear weapons.

He went on to denounce Japan, the only country victimized by nuclear strikes, for not learning lessons from history, but pandering to the United States to gain the so-called "nuclear deterrence."

China pursues a nuclear strategy of self-defense, and is committed to the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, Zhang said, noting that China keeps its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required for national security.

"We urge the United States 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," Zhang said.