Zhang Jun, China’s UN envoy, said on Tuesday that AUKUS partner countries that have announced plans to work together on developing hypersonic weapons should avoid a repeat of the Ukraine crisis.
“Anyone who does not want to see the Ukrainian crisis continue should avoid doing things that could lead to a similar crisis in other parts of the world,” Zhang said in response to Australia’s announcement.
“If you don’t like it, don’t impose it on others,” as the Chinese proverb goes.
This comes after Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS) announced on Tuesday that they would begin working together on developing new hypersonic and electronic warfare capabilities. In a joint statement, the countries stated, “The AUKUS partners will collaborate to accelerate the development of advanced hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities.”
The AUKUS partners also intend to collaborate on the development of improved techniques for operating in an electronic warfare environment.
“We reaffirmed our commitment to AUKUS and an Indo-Pacific that is free and open. We reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to an international system that respects human rights, the rule of law, and the peaceful resolution of disputes without coercion in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified, and unlawful invasion of Ukraine,” further added to the statement.
These initiatives will complement the grouping’s current efforts to strengthen cooperation on cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and additional undersea capabilities, according to the statement.
AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States for the Indo-Pacific region, which was announced in September.