Beijing, China - China angrily responded to the US' jointed statement condemning "dangerous" unannounced missile launches, labeling it "political manipulation" and an exercize in "double standards."
China's Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs Li Chijiang rejected the joint statement, warning: "Beijing's goodwill in providing advance notification of missile launches should not be hijacked by geopolitical calculations."
According to Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times, Li called the statement "microphone diplomacy" and said it "amounted to political manipulation and blatant double standards that China [will] neither accept nor tolerate."
"China has always conducted intercontinental ballistic missile tests in a safe, standardized and responsible manner," Li said.
"Before the latest test, China notified the US and other countries in advance and adopted prudent and reasonable measures to ensure that the launch did not harm the interests of any country."
Li pointed out the US' hypocrisy, explaining that the US has carried out far more intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests than Beijing has, and is "in no position to criticize China over missile testing."
The comments came as a response to a thinly-veiled joint statement issued by the US and its allies on Tuesday, including several from Europe and the Indo-Pacific, warning of the dangers of testing ICBMs without providing advance notice.
"It increases the risk of miscalculation, undermines global stability and security, and is incompatible with the responsibilities that come with possessing long-range missile capabilities," the statement said.
It's believed the statement was meant primarily as a message to Beijing, which test-fired an ICBM last month.
"The US has itself failed to properly fulfill responsibilities regarding missile-test notifications and therefore has no grounds to criticize China's voluntary advance notification," Li pointed out.