Arms control consultations with US halted

Beijing said on Wednesday it has decided to suspend discussions with Washington on holding a new round of arms control and nonproliferation consultations, and called on the latter to respect its core interests.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian made the remarks at a regular news conference, as recent media reports quoted United States officials as saying that China has declined a follow-on meeting to consult on arms control and nonproliferation after both sides met in November.

Lin said that the decision was made because the US has disregarded China's firm opposition and repeated protests, kept selling arms to the Taiwan region and taken a series of actions undermining China's core interests and its mutual trust with the US.