China has said that the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom are travelling “further down the wrong and dangerous path for their own geopolitical self-interest”, as they finalise an agreement for Australia to purchase nuclear-powered attack submarines from the US. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the arrangement, given the acronym Aukus - for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States - arises from the “typical Cold War mentality" and only helped to "motivate an arms race".