ISLAMABAD/BEIJING: China warned on Tuesday that Britain, the United States, and Australia were treading a “path of error and danger” after disclosing a nuclear-powered submarines agreement.
As part of an ambitious plan to bolster Western forces throughout the Asia-Pacific in response to a rising China, Australia revealed on Monday that it would purchase up to five nuclear-powered submarines from the US and then create a new type using US and British technology.
Australia, which joined the AUKUS alliance with Washington and London 18 months ago, has been assured by US President Joe Biden that it will not acquire nuclear weapons.
But by acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, Australia joins an exclusive club and leads US-led efforts to counter China’s military expansion.
The latest joint statement from the UK, Australia, and the US, according to China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, “demonstrates that the three countries disregard the concerns of the international communities completely and are going further and further down the path of error and danger for the sake of their geopolitical interests.”
Wang claimed the security agreement was “a typical case of Cold War mindset,” accusing the three Western allies of igniting an arms race.
Wang stated at a regular news conference in Beijing that the sale of submarines “constitutes a significant nuclear proliferation danger and contradicts the aims and objectives of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
Moscow, which has worked to strengthen its ties with China, has also charged the West with inciting “years of conflict” in the Asia-Pacific.
Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, warned in televised remarks that “the Anglo-Saxon world is seriously betting on many years of hostility” with the development of organizations like AUKUS and the expansion of NATO military infrastructure into Asia.
