Sharjah24 – Reuters: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed deep concern about China's growing nuclear arsenal during a meeting with foreign ministers of Asian countries and partner nations, the State Department said on Friday.

Addressing a virtual meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which groups more than two dozen countries, Blinken also called on China to cease "provocative" behavior in the South China Sea and "raised serious concerns about ongoing human rights abuses in Tibet, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang," the department said in a statement.

"The Secretary also noted deep concern with the rapid growth of the PRC’s nuclear arsenal which highlights how Beijing has sharply deviated from its decades-old nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence," it added, using the acronym for China's official name, the People's Republic of China.

In his address, Blinken urged all ARF member states to press Myanmar's military government to end violence and support the people of the country as they work to return to democratic governance, the statement said.