China warns of ‘countermeasures’ over US missile plans

China has warned the United States that it would take unspecified countermeasures if Washington goes ahead with plans to deploy ground-based missiles in the Asia pacific region.

The statement from the Chinese foreign ministry comes days after US defense secretary Mark Esper said the US was now free to deploy the weapons following its withdrawal last week from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia.

China has also called on neighbouring countries such as Australia, Japan and South Korea not to allow a US deployment of its intermediate-range missiles on their territories.

The statement comes as tensions between the two countries heated up because of an escalating tradewar.

On Monday, Australia ruled out the possibility of the missiles being deployed on its soil, saying Canberra had not even been asked to host them.