BEIJING, Sep. 30 -- Recently, leaders of the US, UK and Australia announced the AUKUS, the trilateral security pact between the US, UK, and Australia, whereby the US and UK will provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarine technology. There are comments saying that the move is clearly aimed at China. In response, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Nation Defense (MND) said in a regular press conference on Thursday that AUKUS’ nuclear submarine cooperation threatens global peace and security, China and the international community firmly oppose and strongly condemn it.
“Any form of nuclear submarine cooperation between the US, UK and Australia, whether it’s renting, export or joint research and development, will seriously aggravate the regional arms race, undermine regional peace and stability, jeopardize the international efforts for nuclear non-proliferation, and threaten world peace and security, ”said Wu.
Wu pointed out that the trilateral cooperation between the US, UK and Australia brings serious risks of nuclear proliferation and violates the spirit of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
The US and the UK, both nuclear states, are exporting to Australia, a non-nuclear-weapon state, highly sensitive nuclear submarine technology and highly enriched uranium (HEU) that could be used in nuclear weapons. This is stark nuclear proliferation, which once again exposed their double standards on nuclear export.
In the meantime, as a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT and a party to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, Australia's introduction of nuclear submarine technology of strategic military value and weapons-grade highly enriched uranium is a serious breach of its international commitments on nuclear non-proliferation and extremely dangerous, Wu warned.
China calls on the international community to make joint efforts and adopt effective measures to stop such dangerous behavior, he said.
“The US is always talking about building an ’open Indo-Pacific’, but what it’s doing is forming exclusive cliques, which fully exposes its hypocrisy,” Wu said, adding that the UK and Australia blindly follow America’s lead, they are doomed to estranging themselves from the times.
China urges the three countries to give up the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game concept, rescind the wrong decision on nuclear submarine cooperation and do more to contribute to regional peace, stability and development rather than the opposite, Wu stated.