Why is China trying to teach US, UK, Australia and Japan a history lesson?

China has warned that a recent move by the US, UK and Australia could escalate the risk of nuclear proliferation

The Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom (UK) on Tuesday opposed what Beijing sees as the United States (US), the UK and Australia's "insistence on advancing" the AUKUS security partnership, warning that such moves could lead to nuclear proliferation and were a result of "Cold War mentality".    

Beijing's sharp reaction also addressed Japan, once again making reference to historical conflicts. 

The US, UK and Australia on Monday announced that they were considering cooperating with Japan on advanced technology projects under the trilateral AUKUS security pact, which is meant to provide deterrence against China in the Indo-Pacific.  

Defence ministers from AUKUS-member nations said that they would consider bringing Japan into the security pact's Pillar-II, which focuses on developing advanced technologies like hypersonic weapons, undersea capabilities, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.

  

Responding to a question on this joint statement by the AUKUS defence ministers, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said that such actions would "inevitably escalate the risk of nuclear proliferation", make the arms race in the Asia-Pacific region worse, and undermine regional peace and stability.  

China claims that this recent move by the three AUKUS allies disregards the concerns of both regional countries and the international community about nuclear proliferation risks.  

"China is gravely concerned and firmly opposed to this," said the Chinese diplomat, adding, "We urge the US, the UK and Australia to abandon the Cold War mentality, stop cobbling together exclusionary blocs, and cease stirring trouble and camp confrontation in the Asia-Pacific region."  

In a reference to Japan's role during the Second World War, the Chinese diplomat also said, "Japan must learn lessons from history and be prudent about its words and actions when it comes to military security."  

The remarks made by the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the UK were reported by the official English-language news website of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.  

"Recognising Japan's strengths and its close bilateral defence partnerships with all three countries, we are considering cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Pillar-II advanced capability projects," the AUKUS defence ministers said in their joint statement.   

Stating that the AUKUS allies were committed to delivering "advanced military capabilities" to their armed forces, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and UK Defence Minister Grant Shapps added that their countries were "confident that engaging like-minded partners in the work of Pillar-II will only strengthen this pursuit".   

While this will not strictly amount to an expansion of AUKUS, the statement means that the AUKUS allies want to work with Japan in the future once the latter meets certain requirements. At present, there is no prospect of expanding Pillar-I, which aims to arm Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.   

Formed by the US, the UK and Australia in 2021, the AUKUS pact is part of their efforts to create a deterrent against China's growing power in the Indo-Pacific.  

China has reacted sharply to the security partnership, describing AUKUS as dangerous and warning that it could ignite an arms race in the region.  

The latest AUKUS development also comes at a time when Japan has been increasing its defence spending and developing hypersonic weapons.