‘Wrong path’: China warns New Zealand over Aukus security cooperation
- Chinese defence ministry says Wellington risks harming its interests by engaging trilateral partnership
- Australia gives a background briefing to New Zealand about collaboration on emerging technology
Chinese defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said on Thursday that Aukus was established for “selfish geopolitical interests” that “undermined the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and triggered arms races” in the region.
“We urge the parties … to refrain from going further and further down the wrong and dangerous path, and refrain from sabotaging international and regional peace and stability to the detriment of their own security interests,” Zhang said.
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A day earlier Australian officials gave their New Zealand counterparts a “background briefing” on “Pillar II” of the trilateral security pact with the United States and the United Kingdom, according to the New Zealand Ministry of Defence.
Nevertheless, China expressed its “strong concerns” and objections against the Aukus partnership and its potential expansion in the Indo-Pacific.
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Aukus was formed in September 2021, with the US, Britain and Australia agreeing to develop a range of advanced abilities, such as cyberwarfare, artificial intelligence and hypersonic weapons, to share technology and increase interoperability among their armed forces.
China sees Aukus as part of US efforts to contain and confront Beijing’s growing power in the region, and has repeatedly accused the alliance of encouraging nuclear proliferation and arms race.
New Zealand, a member of the “Five Eyes” Anglosphere intelligence alliance along with the Aukus nations and Canada, has expressed an interest in joining Pillar I.
It held its first “2+2” foreign and defence ministers’ meeting with Australia earlier this month and showed interest in learning more about the alliance’s non-nuclear cooperation.
“Officials will continue regular engagement with the Aukus partners, as we build our understanding of Pillar II,” New Zealand deputy secretary of defence Anton Youngman said.
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On Thursday, Zhang also said that the Chinese military was “always on alert, resolutely counteracting and firmly defending China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests”.
He hit out at the US and the Philippines over recent joint military exercises, saying the US, which is not a direct stakeholder in the South China Sea disputes, should stop its “malicious acts of interfering and meddling, instigating conflicts and creating troubles”.
Zhang also defended Chinese coastguard staff over their handling of run-ins with Philippine coastguard vessels, accusing the Philippines of “hyping up” “fake” stories of the encounters.
