China warned of countermeasures should the United States deploy ground-based medium-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region.

Fu Cong, the director-general of the arms control department at China's Foreign Ministry told reporters on Tuesday that Beijing "will not stand idly by" while Washington deploys missiles "at China's doorstep."

The Chinese official urged neighboring countries not to allow the deployment of U.S. intermediate-range missiles in their territory.

Fu specifically named the U.S. allies of South Korea, Japan and Australia, suggesting that cooperating with the U.S. would not serve their national interests.

The official did not specify what China's response might be if said countries move forward with the possible missile deployment, saying only "everything will be on the table" if the U.S. allies were to do so.

The comments out of Beijing come after U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper over the weekend said that he was in favor of placing ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in the region, possibly within months.