China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying Photo: fmprc.gov.cn

China on Tuesday opposed the creation of a multilateral nuclear missile treaty in place of the US-Russia Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, saying the US should first disarm its nuclear arsenal.

"The [INF] treaty is a bilateral pact between the US and Russia. Turning it into a multilateral one involves complex issues which concern many countries," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying at Tuesday's media briefing. 

"The Chinese side does not give its consent," Hua said.

Hua's comments came after Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono suggested creating a new multilateral structure to replace the INF. 

In February, the US said it would quit the INF treaty. 

Kono's suggestion does not save the INF treaty, but instead allows the US to unilaterally withdraw from the deal, Hua said. 

"Japan should ask the US not to back out of the treaty if Tokyo genuinely cares about regional security," she said.

China supports the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons, but nuclear disarmament should follow the principle of no security derogation of all countries, Hua noted. 

The US is the world's largest nuclear weapon state and has a prior responsibility for nuclear disarmament, Hua said. 

"The US should further reduce nuclear weapons and create conditions for other countries to participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations."