BEIJING - China’s foreign ministry said any potential intelligence on arms transfer by China to Russia that the United States plans to release is just speculation, its spokesman said on Thursday.

“As for the so-called intel, this is just speculation and smearing against China,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the US government is considering releasing intelligence on China possibly supplying weapons to Russia.

At a separate news conference, China’s defence ministry said it would not engage in a nuclear arms race with any country.

Beijing would always maintain its nuclear force at the minimum level for national security, Mr Tan Kefei, a spokesman for the ministry, said.

Mr Tan was responding to a reporter’s request for comment on recent media reports that China has more land-based intercontinental ballistic launchers than the US, and that China plans to expand the number of warheads it has. REUTERS