China warns US against deploying nuclear weapons in South Korea
Washington DC - Beijing has warned the Biden administration against sending nuclear arms to the Korean peninsula after a Republican report suggested that the US improve nuclear deterrence against North Korea.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, decried the suggestion in a statement to Voice of America (VOA), claiming that it would threaten and undermine regional peace and security.
In the statement, Pengyu said, "If the US deploys tactical nuclear weapons in Asia-Pacific region, it will be a dangerous move that will seriously threaten the security of regional countries and undermine regional peace and stability."
The statement continued, "We will continue to handle Korean Peninsula affairs based on their merits and our own position."
Republican report suggests deployment of nuclear arms to South Korea
On May 29, US Senator Roger Wicker released a report that promoted "Peace Through Strength" via the increase of nuclear armaments in the Asia-Pacific, specifically in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea.
The US Senator for Mississippi, the highest-ranking Republican on the US Senate Armed Services Committee, identified an "emerging Axis of Aggressors" that is "undermining US interests" around the world.
In a statement released alongside the report, a spokesperson for Senator Wicker wrote that his analysis "concludes that to meet the current and emerging global threats, the annual defense budget needs to grow to five percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over time."
The report included an extensive set of key recommendations, including not only increases in munitions purchases but "new nuclear-sharing agreements in the Indo-Pacific and re-deployment of US tactical nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula."
Beijing's comments this week come less than a month after China and Russia launched a joint communiqué addressing security concerns and issues relating to nuclear armament. The Center for European Policy Analysis called the agreement a "nuclear warning."
Responding to Wicker's report, the US State Department told VOA that the US "has no plans to forward deploy nuclear weapons to the Korean peninsula."
Cover photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire