China says object found in Papua New Guinea is a wine bottle, disputing shell reports

Chinese authorities have disputed reports that an object discovered in Papua New Guinea was a Chinese-made artillery shell, saying it was instead a wine bottle shaped like a shell. The Chinese embassy offered that explanation in a Facebook statement on Tuesday, following the arrest of four Chinese nationals over the discovery in the capital, Port Moresby.

Police arrested the four last Friday after the 32kg object was found at a construction site. Reports described it as having been discovered in a commercial shipping container. Local reporting at the time said authorities were investigating whether the object was a live device. Police commissioner David Manning called the find “a very concerning discovery”.

A report published on Wednesday by the Australia Broadcasting Corporation gave a different account from the embassy's explanation. Citing unnamed sources, the broadcaster identified the object as an undetonated 130mm Chinese Type 59 Artillery Projectile. Those sources said it contained chemical explosives and a fuse. The BBC said it had not independently verified that identification.

Papua New Guinea police had also previously rejected suggestions that the object was simply a dummy, according to local newspaper Post Courier. That reported position, along with the account carried by the Australian broadcaster, contrasted with the embassy's assertion that the object was a bottle and presented no risk.

In its Facebook post, the embassy said the item “poses no danger at all”. It also argued that it was “virtually impossible” for an illegal military-grade artillery shell to have been smuggled from China into Papua New Guinea, citing Chinese controls on firearms as grounds for rejecting that possibility.

The statement described China's firearms laws and regulations as among the strictest in the world. It also said China was widely regarded as one of the safest countries globally. Those assertions formed part of the embassy's response to reports linking the discovery in Port Moresby to a suspected Chinese-made weapon.

The explanation drew skeptical reactions from some Facebook users. One questioned how a wine bottle could weigh 32kg, while another pointed to the absence of labels identifying the object as a wine bottle. Their comments challenged the embassy's account as reports continued to offer conflicting descriptions of what police had found.