China has reportedly warned South Korea and Japan against hosting U.S. intermediate-range missiles following Washington's cancellation of a Cold-War-era arms control pact with Russia in February. 

Quoting Japanese and American officials, Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily reported on Tuesday that the Chinese government gave the warning in August at a meeting of foreign ministers from South Korea, China and Japan in Beijing.

In a meeting with then Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly said that if Japan deploys U.S. intermediate-range missiles, it would seriously impact Japan-China relations.

The report said the Chinese minister gave a similar warning in a meeting with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who reportedly called on China to first suspend its retaliatory measures against Seoul over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system.

The U.S. government is apparently seeking to deploy land-based cruise missiles and intermediate-range ballistic missiles after withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, which banned such deployments.