China’s envoy likens Australia to ‘sabre wielder’ over Aukus submarine deal

‘Who are you going to attack?’ asks acting ambassador Wang Xining, saying the move jeopardises the country’s ‘peace-loving’ reputation

Australia’s defence minister openly mocked the senior Chinese diplomat’s remarks, saying on Friday they were ‘so silly it’s funny’

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An Australian Collins class submarine (front) and the UK nuclear-powered attack submarine HMS Astute (rear) are seen at HMAS Stirling Royal Australian Navy base in Perth in October. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:55am, 19 Nov 2021Updated: 12:32pm, 19 Nov 2021

Australia has become a “sabre wielder” rather than a defender of peace because of its plans to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines with US and British technology, China’s top envoy in the country told The Guardian.

Australia in September entered into the trilateral security partnership, cancelling a submarine deal with France in a move that enraged Paris. It also riled China, the major rising power in the Indo-Pacific region.

China’s acting ambassador, Wang Xining, said in an interview with the newspaper published on Friday that the nuclear submarine deal jeopardised Australia’s “peace-loving reputation”.

Wang said people of his age in China saw Australia as a peace-loving country, “but nowadays people know that a nuclear-powered submarine is designed to launch long-range attack against a target far away”.

Chinese diplomat Wang Xining speaks during an event at the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia in August 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

“So who are you going to attack? You are no longer a peace lover, a peace defender, you become a sabre wielder in certain form,” he said of Australia.

Canberra has defended the trilateral deal, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying he did not regret the decision “to put Australia’s national interest first”.

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