Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

China: "AUKUS" Alliance Violates Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty


Fri 21 Jan 2022 | 05:36 PM
Ahmed Moamar

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said that the US-UK-Australia Defense Agreement "AUKUS" undermines the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and provokes confrontation.

"China has repeatedly emphasized that the trilateral security partnership between the United States, Britain and Australia is an exemplary military bloc

Lijian added that the three countries' cooperation on nuclear submarines runs counter to the main objective of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and deals a blow to the international non-proliferation regime," the Chinese spokesperson added.

He stressed that the  three  parties to the agreement (AUKUS) use the so-called "Chinese threat" to enhance cooperation in the field of nuclear submarines, ignoring the international community.

Also, on January 4, Fu Cong, director-general of the Department of Arms Control of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that the "AUKUS " security alliance between Washington, London and Canberra could lead to the collapse of the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

The Chinese diplomat added: “The   "AUKUS" alliance, especially the Tripartite Agreement on the development of nuclear submarines, is very serious. The crux of the problem is that if this plan is implemented, it will mean that the United States of America (USA) and Britain, as nuclear powers, will deliver war uranium to Australia, which is not a country nuclear".

The Chinese  diplomat affirmed   that the current  the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards system does not provide any way to verify that Australia will not use these materials to make nuclear weapons.

"This trilateral cooperation on nuclear submarines will set a very negative precedent. We believe this would be a malicious use of a loophole in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT), and if many countries did so, the nuclear non-proliferation regime would collapse," Fu Cong said.