SYDNEY: China’s foreign minister on Saturday (Apr 20) accused Western powers in the AUKUS security pact of provoking division and risking nuclear proliferation in the South Pacific.
On a weekend visit to strengthen Beijing’s ties with Papua New Guinea, Foreign Minister Wang Yi lashed out at AUKUS, which provides for the United States and Britain to equip Australia with nuclear powered but conventionally armed submarines.
The three way AUKUS agreement “runs counter” to a South Pacific treaty banning nuclear weapons in the region, he told a news conference in Port Moresby.
AUKUS also “raises serious nuclear proliferation risks”, the Chinese foreign minister told reporters after meeting with his Papua New Guinea counterpart Justin Tkatchenko.
In recent years, Beijing has tried to chip away at US and Australian influence across the South Pacific, including in Papua New Guinea.
The Pacific Islands, while small in population, are replete with natural resources and sit at a geostrategic crossroads that could prove strategically vital in any military dispute over Taiwan.
Australia is by far Papua New Guinea’s largest donor, but Chinese firms have made solid inroads into markets in the impoverished but resource-rich nation.
The Chinese foreign minister seized on a recent announcement by the AUKUS nations that they are considering cooperating with Japan on military technology.
