The country that has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world should take the initiative to follow the trend of disarmament instead of going against it, ”the Chinese Defense Ministry said today.
The US military believes its nuclear weapons are seen as too large to use and want to develop low-yield bombs.
Russia has already condemned the plan.
The Iranian foreign minister said the US plan will bring the world "closer to annihilation".
What is the new US policy?
The US is worried that the nuclear arsenal will become obsolete and no longer an effective deterrent and cites China, Russia, North Korea and Iran as potential threats.
The Pentagon document published Friday, known as the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), argues that the development of smaller nuclear weapons would challenge this hypothesis.
Low-yield weapons, with less than 20 kilotons, are less powerful but are still very devastating.
The new policy also proposes:
■ Ground-based ballistic missiles, submarine-launched missiles and airborne weapons. All these weapons will be extensively modernized, as per the program already initiated by former President Obama
■ Proposal to modify some nuclear warheads that can be launched from submarines to give a lower or less powerful detonation
■ Return of nuclear cruise missiles to the sea
Countering, therefore, the "growing threat of revisionist powers", such as China and Russia, are at the heart of the new American defense strategy, announced last month.
In this regard, China has said it "firmly" opposes the Pentagon's review of nuclear policy. Beijing's defense ministry said Washington has played a lot on China's alleged nuclear threat, which is only defensive in nature.
In the NPR document, the US accused China of "expanding its already considerable nuclear forces" but China defended its policy on Sunday saying it would "firmly adhere to peaceful development and pursue a national defense policy of a defensive nature. ".
How did the others react?
The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the United States of threatening a war in this way and said it would take "necessary measures" to ensure Russian security.
"From the first reading, the confrontational and anti-Russian character of this document jumps on you," Moscow's foreign minister said in a statement Saturday.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov then expressed "profound disappointment" at the plan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the proposals were in violation of the international nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the US decision indicated that "the spiral of a new nuclear arms race is already underway" and added that Europe is, just like during the Cold War, particularly vulnerable.
"That is why we need to initiate new initiatives in Europe for arms control and disarmament," Gabriel said in a statement, adding that the development of new weapons is the wrong message and risks triggering an arms race.
Zarif also said in his tweet: "(US President Donald) Trump's stubbornness in killing the #JCPOA (Iran's nuclear deal with world powers) stems from the same dangerous recklessness."