BEIJING China Thursday slammed U.S. accusations that it was supplying missile technology to Pakistan, North Korea and Iran as "baseless," and continued to urge the United States to scrap its plan to build a National Missile Defense (NMD).
"The concerned accusations are baseless and have ulterior motives," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman told the AFP.
He was referring to a twice yearly report from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) which Wednesday accused Chinese suppliers of stepping up support for Pakistan's missile program and tunnelling ballistic materials to U.S. adversaries North Korea, Libya and Iran.
Compiled by the CIA's non-proliferation center the report also said China had provided "extensive support" in the past to Pakistan's program for manufacturing weapons of mass destruction.
The report was issued a day after the latest talks on non-proliferation issues between the U.S. and China ended in Hawaii, with U.S.
officials reporting only limited progress, while Chinese officials barely acknowledged talks were held.
"Recently China and the United States held expert-level consultations on non-proliferation in Honolulu, where both sides exchanged opinions on concerned issues," the spokesman said.
He further reiterated Beijing's opposition to the proposed NMD system, saying China's position that such a system would destroy the current global strategic balance and start a new arms race "was clear and consistent." "We hope the United States will think twice before it acts and give up at an early date its anti-missile plans which will bring only harm and no benefit to mankind," he said.