SYDNEY (Reuters) – The Chinese embassy in Australia on Friday dismissed “unfounded accusations” leveled against China by Australian defense and foreign ministers and their US counterparts after their annual consultation in Washington.
In a joint statement issued after the ministerial consultation, Australia and the United States expressed concern over “(Chinese) maritime claims in the South China Sea, which are without legal basis”, and declared their intention to strengthen their relations with their “essential partner”, Taiwan.
These statements come the day after the announcement by the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia of the formation of a new security and defense partnership in the framework of which Washington and London will help Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
China, for its part, denounced an Anglo-Saxon partnership “severely damaging to regional peace and stability”, synonymous with the intensification of the arms race and harmful to nuclear non-proliferation efforts.
The United States and Australia have also criticized Beijing’s imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong and expressed “serious concerns about the campaign of repression against the Uyghurs” in the region of Hong Kong. Xinjiang.
“We strongly oppose and reject the unfounded accusations and mistaken remarks against China on issues related to the South China Sea, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other issues related to China,” he said. a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Canberra said in a statement.
(Report Kirsty Needham, with Ben Blanchard; French version Camille Raynaud)
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