Beijing Accuses AUKUS of Undermining Regional Peace, Calls for Oversight From UN Nuclear Watchdog

U.S. President Joe Biden participates in a virtual press conference on national security with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15, 2021. The three leaders announced the AUKUS defence partnership between their countries. Brendan Smialkowski/AFP via Getty Images

Beijing has warned the three AUKUS nations of undermining peace and security in the Indo-Pacific if efforts to arm Australia with nuclear-powered submarines continue.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a press briefing on July 29 that Beijing opposed cooperation between the three governments and that it allegedly “sparked serious concern in the international community.”

The spokesperson said the sharing of nuclear information should not be allowed unless all stakeholders in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreed and if the body had oversight of the deal.

A nuclear propulsion Ohio class submarine, the USS Florida sails on Jan. 22, 2003, off the coast of the Bahamas. Australia, as part of the AUKUS deal, will get the tech for nuclear-powered subs. David Nagle/U.S. Navy/Getty Images

Zhao accused the AUKUS nations of taking no notice of “serious nuclear proliferation risks” warning that it could undermine “peace and security in the region.”

The comments from Beijing come as the United Nations holds its Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (from Aug. 1 to 26), which will be scrutinising AUKUS after requests for review were submitted by China and Indonesia.

But, Australia has said that its commitment to the treaty has not wavered which is why the country will go about obtaining the weapons in the most transparent way possible.

Assistant Defence Minister Tim Ayers told the conference on Aug.2 that Australia is working with the international nuclear regulator and community to maintain “a nuclear weapons-free and independent Pacific.”

“At this conference and beyond, each of us must work to forestall the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that await us unless we take real steps towards the elimination of nuclear weapons,” Ayres said.

“All three (AUKUS) partners are committed to upholding our legal obligations and to strengthening the integrity of the non-proliferation regime. We will not simply uphold but strengthen the integrity of the regime.”

Atomic Agency Pleased With AUKUS Transparency

Australia, the U.S. and the UK, in a joint working paper (pdf) to the Conference, have said that all three countries are committed to transferring the top secret technology in a way that accords with the highest possible non-proliferation standards, including the provision of “complete, welded power units” to Australia so they do not need to conduct uranium enrichment or fuel fabrication.

“The international community can have confidence in our undertakings, especially because Australia’s track record on nuclear non-proliferation is exemplary. Its actions will be consistent with its outstanding credentials,” the three countries said, citing Australia’s inclusion within the IAEA’s “Broader Conclusion,” which is given to a country when it has used nuclear material in only peaceful activities for 22 years.

AUKUS also said the countries intend to fully engage with the IAEA to find a suitable verification approach for inspections, a stance which pleased IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Grossi, in a statement to the Board of Governors of the agency in June, said: “I would like to express my satisfaction with the engagement and transparency shown by the three countries thus far.”

Australia To See Conflict in the Next 10 Years

The comments from Beijing come after Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said in an interview with the Center For Strategic and International Studies that Australian defence analysts had warned the country could see conflict in ten years.

“Two years ago—to the credit of the former government—they undertook the Defence Strategic Update, which observed, pretty significantly, for the first time that Australia was within a 10-year threat window, ” said Marles. “So, to explain that there had always been an assumption in strategic planning in Australia that we would be given 10 years’ notice if anybody wished to do us any harm. For the first time, in 2020, it was observed that we are within that 10-year window. That’s a really big thing to say.”

An Australian soldier from 7 Brigade operates a machine gun through the turret of a truck as part of exercise Talisman Sabre in Rockhampton, Australia, on July 9, 2015. Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

Marles also noted that Australia was currently experiencing a challenging time with China.

“Right now, given the way that China is seeking to shape the world around it in a way that we’ve not seen before, we are presented with challenges from our largest trading partner, which make the path forward far from obvious, ” he said.

“And, you know, we’re also experiencing considerable strategic competition from China in our nearest neighbourhood. So, all of that really is asking of us questions about where we’re at and what we need to do that we really haven’t seen for a long time.”

Albanese Government Should Hold China to Account

Meanwhile, opposition leader Peter Dutton has called on the federal government to push Beijing to explain its military build-up.

Speaking on Sky News Australia, Dutton, who was defence minister in the former Morrison government, said that while it was welcome news that high-level diplomatic communications have resumed between Australia and China, the federal government needed to question China over the rapid expansion of its military arsenal.

“China continues to amass nuclear weapons,” Dutton said. “China is growing its naval fleet at the same tonnage rate of our entire Royal Australian Navy fleet every 18 months and, I might note, at a time when most of the world is providing support, depleting their own stocks, to give Ukraine a fighting chance against Russia.”

Soldiers stand on the deck of the transport dock Yimen Shan of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the sea near Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province, on April 23, 2019. Mark Schiefelbein/AFP via Getty Images

Regarding high-level diplomatic talks, Dutton was concerned Australia was simply being “handled” by Beijing—an unproductive use of the government’s time.

“The Australian government needs to be serious in the discussions, and we need to ask China to explain the human rights abuses, and to explain what’s happening in relation to their military build-up, the attack on the P-8 surveillance aircraft only a couple of weeks ago, the surveillance of one of our ships within that contested area,” he said.