China says United States is wrong to pull out of nuclear arms pact

After Trump expresses his plans to withdraw from 1987 treaty

BEIJING: It is wrong of the United States to unilaterally pull out of a landmark Cold War-ear treaty that eliminated nuclear missiles from Europe, China said on Monday.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing that China was opposed to the withdrawal.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump said Washington would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, negotiated by then president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987.

The pact provided for elimination of short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries.