China Opposes AUKUS Nuclear Submarine Cooperation... Should Be Addressed at IAEA Special Committee

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] China has argued that the AUKUS (the trilateral security partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia) issue, centered on supporting the construction of nuclear-powered submarines (nuclear submarines) for Australia, should be addressed at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) special committee. It also stated that until consensus is reached at the special committee, the three countries should suspend cooperation related to nuclear submarines.

According to Xinhua News Agency on the 27th, at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting held in Vienna, Austria the previous day, Wang Qun, China's representative to the UN organizations in Vienna, and Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's representative, expressed opposition to AUKUS's nuclear submarine cooperation.

At a joint press conference with Representative Ulyanov, Representative Wang said, "The hidden risks of the trilateral nuclear submarine cooperation are enormous and the dangers are serious," adding, "From the perspective of nuclear non-proliferation, it is a blatant act of proliferation."

Representative Wang stated, "The core of the trilateral nuclear submarine cooperation is the transfer of tons of nuclear material from the two nuclear-weapon states, the United States and the United Kingdom, to Australia, which is not a nuclear-weapon state," and added, "This clearly violates the purpose and intent of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."

He went on to say that to discuss the AUKUS issue, a special committee should be established in which all IAEA member states can participate, and until an agreement is reached there, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia should not proceed with nuclear submarine cooperation. He emphasized, "The IAEA Secretariat should not negotiate with the three countries regarding safeguards for their nuclear submarine cooperation."

Russian representative Ulyanov criticized, "The US-UK-Australia nuclear submarine cooperation escalates regional tensions and increases the risk of an arms race." He added, "Currently, all US nuclear submarines use weapons-grade highly enriched uranium, and if the trilateral nuclear submarine cooperation continues, Australia will secure a large amount of weapons-grade nuclear material, which will have a serious impact on international nuclear non-proliferation."