The Chinese government has declined German Chancellor Angela Merkel's suggestion that Beijing join a renegotiated Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia and the United States, saying their missiles are defensive in nature and there is no need.

Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party’s decision-making Politburo, told the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Saturday that China opposed expansion of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) between the United States and the former Soviet Union into a multilateral agreement, reported The South China Morning Post.

“Disarmament is something that concerns us all and we would of course be glad if such talks were held not just between the United States, Europe and Russia but also with China,” she said.

“China develops its capabilities strictly according to its defensive needs and doesn’t pose a threat to anybody else,” responded Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party’s decision-making Politburo.

U.S. President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from the INF Treaty negotiated during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

In a stunning development, today Russia admitted that the missile it had developed was indeed a much longer range weapon that previously admitted, saying it could fly around the world several times if it wanted to.