Login
iscover
Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen has called the AUKUS trilateral security pact a “starting point of a very dangerous arms race” during a public address.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Prime Minister Hun Sen called the Australia, United States, and United Kingdom pact a concern for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in a speech during the graduation ceremony at the Royal University of Law and Economics.
Under the AUKUS trilateral security pact, the US and the UK will assist Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.
“The small-scale alliance relevant to nuclear-powered submarines among the US, Britain, and Australia is becoming a concern for ASEAN and countries in the region because ASEAN is a nuclear weapon-free zone, and we oppose nuclear weapon proliferation,” Prime Minister Hun Sen said.
“(Military alliance is the) starting point of a very dangerous arms race. I think if this situation continues, the world will face a bigger danger.”
Earlier this year, the Cambodian Prime Minister met with People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping for the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cambodia.
PRC Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said estimates by international arms control experts indicate the weapons-grade nuclear materials the US and the UK plan to transfer to Australia would be sufficient to build as many as 64 to 80 nuclear weapons.
“Prime Minister Hun Sen’s remarks speak to the concerns widely shared by regional countries, including the ASEAN nations,” he said during a regular press conference on 6 June.
“The AUKUS security partnership and related nuclear submarine cooperation creates nuclear proliferation risks, threatens the international nuclear non-proliferation system, undermines the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, and undercuts ASEAN countries’ efforts to establish a Southeast Asia nuclear weapon-free zone.
“If the three countries are set on advancing their nuclear submarine cooperation, it is bound to deal an irreversible heavy blow to the integrity, efficacy, and authority of the international nuclear non-proliferation system and trigger similar behaviour in other non-nuclear-weapon states, thus turning the region into an arena of arms race.
“Such practice of seeking one’s own security at the expense of other countries’ security and plunging other countries into ‘security anxiety’ is extremely irresponsible and dangerous.
“As ASEAN’s comprehensive strategic partner and friendly neighbour, China firmly supports ASEAN nations’ efforts to establish the Southeast Asia nuclear weapon-free zone.
“China is the first nuclear-weapon state to openly support the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone and have expressed readiness to sign the Protocol to the Treaty.
“We once again call on the US, the UK, and Australia to heed the concerns of the international community, stop acts of nuclear proliferation such as their nuclear submarine cooperation, stop undermining the international nuclear non-proliferation system by applying double standards, and stop brewing storms over the Pacific Ocean.”
AUKUS partners have previously committed to meeting their respective nuclear non-proliferation obligations, setting the highest non-proliferation standard and strengthening the non-proliferation regime according to Trilateral Australia-UK-US Partnership on Nuclear-Powered Submarines information published by the US government on 13 March. That statement included details that as a non-nuclear state, Australia does not and will not seek to acquire nuclear weapons; and will not enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel as part of the AUKUS program.
