China's UN envoy warns of ‘Ukraine-like crisis' after AUKUS' hypersonic weapons deal

In a development, China’s envoy to the United Nations, Zhang Jun said on Tuesday spoke against the AUKUS partnership on developing hypersonic weapons. Speaking about the proposed cooperation deal, the Chinese envoy termed it as "things which may lead other parts of the world into crisis". Stating the example of Ukraine, Jun said that the countries should refrain from such deals regarding the development of hypersonic weapons.

The Chinese envoy denounced the recent deal between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (AUKUS) and said that the partner countries must refrain from the same. Jun noted that countries that plan to cooperate on developing hypersonic weapons could pave the way to another ‘Ukraine-like crisis’. Furthermore, the envoy also took a dig at the Western nations for the deal and said that it was imposing something it is against.

"Anyone who does not want to see the Ukrainian crisis should refrain from doing things that may lead the other parts of the world into a crisis like this," Zhang Jun said reacting to the announcement by Australia.

"As the Chinese saying goes, if you do not like it, do not impose it against the others," he said in an apparent dig at the countries. The comments came after AUKUS on Tuesday agreed to begin trilateral cooperation on the development of new hypersonic and electronic warfare weaponry.

AUKUS to develop hypersonic weapons

As a part of the trilateral defence deal - the United States, the UK, and Australia are planning to announce cooperation to develop hypersonic weapons to counter China's increasing military might, and its expansion in the Pacific and South China sea. The US Navy might unveil its first installation of a hypersonic weapon similar to ballistic missiles on a warship as early as 2023. This comes as Russia has deployed hypersonic missiles, which are difficult to be shot down due to their manoeuvrability during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. 

The hypersonic weapons are launched at speeds of Mach 5 and demonstrate exceptionally high manoeuvrability. They travel 5 times faster than the speed of sound and are capable of switching paths during flight. These missiles can travel at hypersonic speeds and onset trajectories.

The three allies - US, UK, and Australia, plan to unveil the further expansion of AUKUS that was intended to help Canberra obtain nuclear-powered submarines. 

China tested a hypersonic weapon system last year, Russia used it in Ukraine 

In October last year, US Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had informed during a briefing that China tested a hypersonic weapon system, adding that the PLA had advanced in its military technology by conducting several hundred tests of hypersonic missiles in the contentious South China Sea.

Milley had labelled the hypersonic missile test as a “very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system, and it is very concerning” in an interview with Bloomberg. As Russia amassed its military troops on the volatile frontier with Ukraine early last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered his military to develop advanced hypersonic missiles.

(With agency inputs)

Image: AP