Unexploded ordnance made by Chinese military was discovered in a container in Papua New Guinea! Chinese nonsense: That’s a wine bottle

Chinese officials said the shells were wine bottles. (Taken from PNGEastNewBritainProvince Facebook)

A large Chinese-made unexploded military bomb weighing 32 kilograms was recently discovered in a commercial container at a major terminal in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. In response, China posted a post on social media claiming that it was just a "wine bottle."

According to comprehensive foreign media reports, after receiving the report, the Papua New Guinea police and military explosives experts immediately sealed off the scene and safely removed the device. After testing with X-ray equipment donated by Australia and the latest police report, it was confirmed that the object was a Chinese-made Type 59 130mm military artillery shell containing chemical explosives and fuses. Four Chinese nationals have been arrested in connection with the case.

However, the Chinese Embassy in Papua New Guinea issued a post on social media to "refute the rumors", claiming that the company involved confirmed on-site inspection that the object was "just a cannonball-shaped wine bottle and not dangerous at all."

Although Chinese officials rushed to play down suspicions of Chinese-made military weapons being smuggled into Papua New Guinea and insisted that the explosive was just a shaped wine bottle, senior sources in Papua New Guinea confirmed that the latest police investigation report had clearly identified the object as a lethal live artillery shell. At present, this identification report has been officially handed over to special criminal investigators for in-depth investigation, and the four arrested Chinese men continue to be detained in Port Moresby.

PNG Police Chief David Manning praised the frontline police officers for their quick response and sealing off the area as soon as they received the report to prevent surrounding people from being harmed and allowing military and police explosives experts to safely relocate the devices and store them properly. As the Australian authorities are currently actively seeking to sign a historic defense treaty with Papua New Guinea, China has loudly urged Papua New Guinea not to sign any agreement that excludes cooperation with third countries. This matter has also touched local sensitive nerves.