NATO chief wants China to join intl nuclear arms control treaty

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday voiced concern about Chinese as well as Russian medium-range missiles and urged Beijing to join an international nuclear arms control treaty, AFP reported. “We see that China is investing heavily in new, modern weapons, including new missiles,” Stoltenberg said on German ZDF television. “Half of their missiles would violate the INF treaty if China were a signatory,” he said, referring to the 1987 nuclear weapons control accord that US President Donald Trump last month threatened to quit. “We support expanding this treaty so that China is also bound by it,” Stoltenberg said Tuesday. He also said that the alliance is “very worried about the new Russian missiles… they are mobile, they are nuclear-capable and they can reach cities in Europe like Berlin.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that abandoning the treaty could lead to a new arms race, and vowed to respond in kind if the US deployed any new missiles in Europe.