China yesterday strongly reiterated its total opposition to President Bush's controversial missile defence plan, claiming it would open the door to a new arms race and threaten world stability.
As the Assistant US Secretary of State, Mr James Kelly, had talks in Beijing aimed at convincing China the plan would promote global peace, a foreign ministry spokesman made it clear that China's position would remain unchanged.
The spokesman told a news conference that China remained opposed to the National Missile Defence (NMD) because it would destroy the "global strategic balance and upset international stability".
He said the US plan had met the opposition of many countries around the world because it harmed their interests as well as the interests of the US itself.
However, Mr Kelly - one of a number of senior US envoys who have been touring the world selling the NMD plan in the last week - said he was seeking a dialogue with Chinese officials on security and stability that "reflected today's world".
"China clearly shares with us an interest in promoting peace and stability in East Asia and the world. Curbing the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction is a key element in the maintenance of peace and security," he said.
Mr Kelly was the first senior Bush administration official to visit China. He said the NMD plan involved non-proliferation, counter-proliferation, missile defence and unilateral reduction proposals.
"These reductions will sharply lower the number of such weapons in America," he said.
The foreign ministry spokesman said US hopes of building a shield against missiles fired by "rogue states", such as North Korea or Iraq, would lead to a new arms race and undermine the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that Beijing sees as the cornerstone of the world's strategic balance.
He dismissed as "groundless and irresponsible" a Washing- ton Times report that US spy satellites detected evidence of preparations by Beijing for an underground nuclear test this month.
As well as NMD, China is also opposed to Mr Bush's Theatre Missile Defence (TMD) aimed at protecting allies such as Japan or US troops in northeast Asia.