Transfer of uranium within AUKUS partnership violates NPT — Chinese Foreign Ministry

BEIJING, April 20. /TASS/. Cooperation between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States (AUKUS) in building of nuclear submarines involves the transfer of weapons-grade uranium to non-nuclear states, which grossly violates the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), a national report of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. "The United States, Great Britain and Australia have decided to develop cooperation on nuclear submarines, which involves the transfer of a large amount of weapons-grade enriched uranium to a non-nuclear state. This poses a serious risk of proliferation, violates the goals and objectives of the Treaty [on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons] and undermines regional peace and stability," the document says. The ministry strongly protested against the AUKUS actions, as well as against similar cooperation between Washington and Seoul, calling them a direct threat to regional stability. Beijing also harshly criticized the attempts by some countries to secure an absolute strategic advantage through the deployment of global missile defense systems and advanced deployment of medium-range missiles. The report issues a special warning to Tokyo. The Chinese Foreign Ministry called on the international community to stop calls by Japanese politicians for the possible deployment of nuclear weapons and attempts to completely revise the "three non-nuclear principles." The agency again condemned the dumping of radioactive water from the Japanese Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, demanding strict international control over the process.