The US criticized China for not giving sufficient notice before testing an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Pacific Ocean last month, as the Trump administration pushes back against Beijing’s growing nuclear arsenal.
“Instead of providing transparency and sufficient notice, Beijing chose to pursue a confusing and provocative approach,” Victoria Nibarger, a State Department official, said at a disarmament conference in Geneva.
She was referring to China’s July 6 test of a submarine-launched, nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile. China failed to warn all potentially affected countries, while those it did notify received “only two hours’ notice at best,” she said.
China rejected the US claim and insisted it gave sufficient notice ahead of the submarine-launched missile test.
“China has consistently conducted intercontinental ballistic missile test launches in a safe, standardized and responsible manner,” Li Chijiang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, said at the same conference, according to a report from state-owned China Central Television.
“China provided advance notification to the US and other countries and took prudent and reasonable measures to ensure that the test launch did not harm the interests of any country — fully demonstrating China’s goodwill and responsible approach,” he added.
The US was among 41 countries to sign a statement committing to provide advance notice for such launches and reiterated that recent “missile testing activity in the Pacific area did not follow the standard practices adopted by most states.”
More broadly the US has pushed China for greater transparency around its growing nuclear arsenal and has sought to establish more safeguards between the two nuclear powers.
China appeared to ramp up missile production last year by the most since Xi Jinping became president in 2013, according to a Bloomberg analysis published in May.
Washington and Beijing are working to keep preparations on track for Xi’s planned visit to the US in September, even as a renewed exchange of trade and technology restrictions strains a fragile truce.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.