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China opposes nuke submarine cooperation among US, UK, Australia

TOKYO, July 28 (KUNA) -- China on Thursday urged the US, Britain and Australia to respect the will of regional countries and revoke the decision to carry out nuclear submarine cooperation to avoid harming regional and global peace and security, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a news briefing in Beijing when asked to comment on the US-Britain-Australia nuclear submarine cooperation. The three countries have submitted relevant working paper to the 10th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to defend its nuclear submarine cooperation, according to the report.
"China has stated its opposition on several occasions and submitted a working paper to the 10th Review Conference of the NPT in December 2021. Regrettably, the three countries have yet to face up to and address the concerns of various parties," said Zhao.
No matter how the three countries argue, they cannot change the basic fact that the trilateral cooperation has serious nuclear proliferation risks and violates the purpose of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the spokesman said.
China advocates launching an intergovernmental process under the framework of the IAEA in accordance with established practice to discuss political, legal and technical issues related to nuclear submarine cooperation, Zhao stressed. (end) mk.aa