NEW YORK (Dispatches) - China’s 

ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, has warned against measures that might fuel a crisis like the Ukraine conflict elsewhere in the world. 

“Anyone who does not want to see the Ukrainian crisis should refrain from doing things which may lead the other parts of the world into a crisis like this,” Zhang told reporters. “As the Chinese saying goes: if you do not like it, do not impose it against the others.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had earlier said that he, U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian premier Scott Morrison had progressed arrangements for a new defense alliance, AUKUS. In a joint statement following a telephone call, the three leaders iterated their commitment to co-operation on various projects, including nuclear-powered submarines for Australia.

“We also committed today to commence new trilateral cooperation on hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, and electronic warfare capabilities,” the statement said.

On Tuesday, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia announced they will work together via the recently created security alliance known as AUKUS to develop hypersonic missiles.

The move comes amid rising concern by the U.S. and allies about China’s growing military assertiveness in the Pacific. U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the plan after holding a check-in on the progress of AUKUS, the Indo-Pacific alliance that was launched by the three countries in September, NBC News reported.

 

U.S. Kept Secret Its Test of 

Hypersonic Missile

 

The United States reportedly tested a hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it under wraps for two weeks to avoid raising tensions with Russia.

According to a defense official familiar with the matter, the U.S. successfully tested the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) which was launched from a B-52 bomber off the west coast.

The test took place as U.S. President Joe Biden was preparing to travel to Europe and also days after Russian forces said they had used a hypersonic missile in Ukraine, the official said. 

The test is the first of the Lockheed Martin version of the weapon and is the second successful test of a HAWC missile.

During the latest test, a booster engine accelerated the missile to high speed, at which point the air-breathing scramjet engine ignited and propelled the missile at hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 and above.

The missile eventually “reached altitudes greater than 65,000 feet and flew for more than 300 nautical miles,” according to a statement from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The test came less than a week after Russia said it had used its own hypersonic missile to strike a Ukrainian weapons storage facility. 

U.S. officials, however, downplayed the importance of Moscow’s test of their hypersonic Kinzhal missile, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin saying he did not view it as “some sort of game changer.”

At the time of the U.S. test, Biden was preparing for a visit to NATO allies in Europe, including a stop in Poland where he had a meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister and defense minister.

The U.S. has avoided taking steps or making statements that could escalate the tensions between Washington and Moscow.

In March, the U.S. military postponed a test of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile before altogether canceling the launch on Friday. 

The leaders said in a joint statement they are “committed to commence new trilateral cooperation on hypersonics and counter-hypersonics, and electronic warfare capabilities, as well as to expand information sharing and to deepen cooperation on defense innovation”.

The U.S., Russia and China have all looked to further develop hypersonic missiles — a system so fast that it cannot be intercepted by any current missile defense system.

In October, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that China had conducted a test of a hypersonic weapon system as part of its effort to advance in space and military technologies.

Milley described the Chinese test as a “very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system, and it is very concerning”, in a Bloomberg Television interview.

The United States and Australia already have a hypersonic weapon program called SCIFiRE, and British officials said that though Britain would not join that program at this point, the three countries would work together on research and development in the area to increase their options.