Chinese Ambassador concerned over Australian nuclear deal

COLOMBO (News 1st); China's Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong has raised concerns over a deal to supply nuclear submarines to Australia. The US, UK, and Australia had recently announced the establishment of a deal known as AUKUS, which is a deal that would provide Australia with at least eight nuclear submarines. In a statement, the ambassador said the deal is similar to holding up a Sword of Damocles on countries in the Pacific-Indian Ocean. He added that the AUKUS deal has increased the threat of the spread of nuclear weapons. The ambassador called the deal as a violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He argued that this creates a new arms race, which will undermine regional prosperity and stability, and added that this also shows the double-standards of the UK and the US which are part of the deal. The statement further read that the US and Britain don't allow Iran and North Korea to possess nuclear weapons while ignoring the nuclear weapons development by Israel and providing nuclear submarines to Australia. The Ambassador said China believes that nuclear weapons should be completely prohibited. However, he added that China has always maintained its nuclear power at the lowest level.