China on Thursday said it saw "new expressions" in US President Barack Obama's strategy for the use of nuclear weapons but said it still needed to study the details before responding, DPA reported.
"We have taken note of some new expressions in the US policy in this report," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.
"We will make a careful study of it," Jiang said.
"The United States is the biggest power with a nuclear arsenal," she said.
"It is of great importance to reduce nuclear weapons by a large margin, and further reduce the role that nuclear arms play in national security," Jiang said.
China wanted to see the "realization of comprehensive and thorough nuclear weapons disarmament as a promotion of world peace and stability", she said.
"We firmly pursue a nuclear strategy of a defensive nature. We will not use nuclear weapons first under any circumstances and at any time," Jiang said.
She said China would "never participate in any nuclear arms race" and planned to keep its nuclear arsenal "at a minimal level for national security."
On Tuesday, Obama's administration pledged never to use nuclear weapons against states that comply with non-proliferation treaties, as part of a much-anticipated review of nuclear arms strategy.
But the new pledge - a first for the US - leaves open a nuclear strike against countries that have signed on to the global non- proliferation treaty but stand accused of violating its terms.
The Nuclear Posture Review was issued one day before Obama headed to Prague to sign a new nuclear-arms-reduction treaty with Russia. The new START Treaty already calls on both sides to reduce their nuclear warheads to 1,550, or about one-third below current levels.
Obama is also preparing to host Chinese President Hu Jintao and more than 40 other world leaders next week in Washington for a two-day summit on safeguarding nuclear material used in weapons and other fields.
...