SpaceWar.com reports: “Beijing said on Friday the United States should take the lead on reducing military spending after US President Donald Trump said he wanted to hold talks with Russia and China on the topic.

Trump, who has cast himself in his second term as a global peacemaker, said he wanted a summit with his counterparts Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping ‘when things calm down’.

‘I want to say, let’s cut our military budget in half,’ he told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Asked about the proposal on Friday, China’s foreign ministry responded that the United States had the largest military budget in the world.

‘Since the United States calls for ‘America First’, they should take the lead in setting an example of cutting military spending,’ foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular news briefing.

‘China’s military budget is open and transparent. It is reasonable and appropriate in relation to the United States and other major military powers,’ he said…”