BEIJING, Feb. 24 -- A Chinese defense spokesperson on Thursday urged Australia to stay out of other countries’ businesses and spend more time reflecting on itself.
Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a regular press conference in response to the latest comment made by Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton, who criticized China's "militarization" activities in the South China Sea and thought that Australia has to confront China in the region.
Snr. Col. Tan said that the South China Sea islands are China’s inherent territory. China’s infrastructure construction and deployment of necessary defensive forces on its own soil are perfectly justified and beyond reproach. No one, including Australia, has the right to arrogantly make irresponsible remarks.
"If a nation’s defense authorities are obsessed with confrontation and deliberately make waves in the South China Sea, what it will lose is not just the next decade, but also its international credibility and the opportunities to cooperate with regional countries," the spokesperson said.
Snr. Col. Tan pointed out that China has repeatedly expressed serious concerns about and firm objection to the nuclear submarine deal among the US, the UK and Australia within their trilateral security partnership (AUKUS) framework.
"A reflection of the Cold War zero-sum mindset and savoring of a strongly military touch, the trilateral clique against the trend of the time and the wish of regional countries is doomed to fail," he said.
China urges the AUKUS group to forsake the Cold War mentality and the zero-sum game concept, and treat international concerns in a responsible manner. "They should stay out of other countries’ businesses, spend more time reflecting on themselves, revoke their wrong decisions as soon as possible, and perform their anti-proliferation obligations with concrete actions," the spokesperson added.