China warns Britain to ‘think twice’ about Aukus pact and warns of nuclear proliferation risk
- Wang Yi tells British counterpart Liz Truss that the alliance with the US and Australia could ‘trigger an arms race and provoke confrontation’
- Meanwhile Truss warns in newspaper interview against UK becoming ‘dependent’ on China for sensitive projects such as nuclear power plants
China hits out at Aukus after US submarine accident
Wang said the deal is the first time a nuclear-armed state has transferred a nuclear-powered submarine to a non-nuclear-armed state by providing highly enriched uranium, addding: “As it is not subject to international supervision and verification, it is bound to pose a serious risk of nuclear proliferation.
“China expresses serious concerns about the establishment of a tripartite security partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and the development of nuclear submarine cooperation”.
The security pact, announced in September, is widely regarded to be aimed at China with the US, Australia and other Indo-Pacific nations voicing concern over China’s military presence in the region.
Malaysia and Indonesia have said they are “worried and concerned” that Aukus may lead to an arms race in Southeast Asia, but other nations in the region were more cautious in making their responses.
Wang said China and the UK should properly manage their differences to ensure healthy development of their bilateral relations.
The phone call between Wang Yi and Truss came as Truss said Britain must not become “dependent” on China, saying critical national infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants, should only be built with “like-minded” partners.
“The way I would put it is that, of course, we trade with China. It’s an important trading partner of the UK. But it’s important that we don’t become strategically dependent,” she said.
But she appeared to be cautious on whether Chinese state-owned companies should be involved in UK nuclear power plants.
The US and the EU see China differently. Aukus highlights how
“I’d go back to the broader comments I’ve made about diversifying supply,” she said. “I think it’s very important that we don’t become strategically dependent and I think it’s important that we make sure that we’re working, particularly in areas of critical national infrastructure, with reliable partners.”
Wang said that there was significant potential for economic cooperation between the two countries in areas such as financial services, clean energy and the digital economy.