China accuses US of hindering China-India ties

China yesterday accused the US of distorting its defence policy in an effort to thwart an improvement in China-India ties.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian was responding to a question at a press briefing on whether China might exploit a recent easing of tensions with India over disputed border areas to keep ties between the United States and India from deepening.

China views its ties with India from a strategic and long-term perspective, Lin said, adding that the border issue was a matter between China and India and "we object to any country passing judgment about this issue".

The Pentagon said in a report on Tuesday that China "probably seeks to capitalize on decreased tension ... to stabilize bilateral relations and prevent the deepening of US-India ties".

China on Tuesday urged the United States to fulfil its nuclear disarmament responsibilities after the draft Pentagon report said China was likely to have loaded more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles in sites near the Mongolian border and showed no desire for arms control talks.

"As a super nuclear power with the largest nuclear arsenal, the most urgent task for the US is to earnestly fulfil the special and priority responsibility for nuclear disarmament," Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a regular press conference in Beijing.

The US should "substantially reduce its nuclear arsenal to create conditions for other nuclear-weapon states to join the nuclear disarmament process," Lin added.