BEIJING (Dispatches) - China’s
Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the AUKUS security pact between the United States, Britain and Australia brings hidden danger to regional peace, stability and the international order.
Mr Wang made the comments as he co-chaired the latest round of the high-level strategic dialogue between China and the EU alongside EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.
China has repeatedly denounced the new Indo-Pacific security alliance, which would provide Canberra with a nuclear-powered submarine fleet.
Mr Wang’s comments came as foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also questioned whether Australia cared about improving relations with China.
“We hope that the Australian side will [...] take practical actions to create conditions for the restoration and improvement of relations between the two countries.”
The U.S., the UK and Australia should discard their outdated Cold War mentality, and walk back their wrong decision in a responsible manner as the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal harms innocent people in the South Pacific region again, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said at routine press conference on Tuesday.
Manasseh Sogavare, Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, addressed at the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the UN that Solomon Islands is a party to the 1985 the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty and therefore would like to keep our region nuclear free and put the region’s nuclear legacy behind us. The ocean remains the life blood for our survival and would like to work with everyone in keeping it blue and healthy, The Global Times reported.
Many people may not know that the South Pacific region is the worst area affected by nuclear pollution. The U.S. carried out 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958, which caused irreparable damages on inhabitants’ health and the ecological environment, Hua
Relations between the two countries have been strained over a number of issues aside from the submarine deal, including an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, a trade war, and regional security.