The Director of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Arms Control Department, Fu Cong, said on August 6, that China “will not stand idly by” and will take countermeasures if the U.S. deploys intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. He also advised other nations, particularly South Korea, Japan and Australia, to “exercise prudence” and not allow the U.S. to deploy such weapons on their territory, saying that would “not serve the national security interests of these countries.” He was responding to comments by U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper made in Asia over the weekend, that he wanted to deploy midrange conventional missiles in the Asia-Pacific within months.
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