It might look like an artillery shell and weigh as much as an explosive but it’s a bottle of wine and ‘no danger at all’, insists China

Papua New Guinea police found a 32kg shell-shaped object in a shipping container at a construction site in Port Moresby and arrested four Chinese nationals. China’s embassy says it is a wine bottle that poses no danger, while police treated it as a possible explosive and secured the area.

Police and military explosive disposal experts examined the object and moved it to a secure facility. An Australian broadcaster cited unnamed sources identifying it as a Chinese Type 59 artillery projectile, but that identification has not been independently verified; PNG police also rejected claims it was merely a dummy. The dispute comes as China and Western countries compete for influence in the Pacific, where PNG has recently signed a defence agreement with Australia.