China has said that any intermediate-range missiles deployed by the US in the Asia Pacific will be seen by Beijing as “offensive in nature”, after US defence secretary Mark Esper said he hoped to place new weapons systems in the region.
The US last week officially withdrew from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia after Moscow refused to destroy a new missile that Washington and its Nato allies said counted as a breach of the arms control pact. The administration has also pointed to China’s growing land-based missile capabilities as another reason for its decision.
During a visit to Australia over the weekend, Mr Esper told reporters that exiting the treaty left the US free to build up intermediate-range conventional missiles systems in the Pacific region, saying that he would prefer to begin doing so in “months”, although there was no firm timeline for deployment.