China says suspected shell found in Papua New Guinea is a wine bottle

Papua New Guinea police are investigating an object found in a shipping container in Port Moresby.

Four Chinese nationals were arrested after the 32kg object was found at a construction site in the capital.

China’s embassy says it is a shell-shaped wine bottle, while local police have reportedly rejected the idea that it is merely a dummy.

An Australian broadcaster cited unnamed sources identifying it as an undetonated Chinese artillery projectile, but that identification has not been independently verified.

The embassy says the bottle poses no danger and that smuggling a military shell out of China would be virtually impossible.

The object’s identity remains disputed, and the embassy says it is awaiting the findings of Papua New Guinea’s police investigation.

The case matters because authorities are checking whether the object could be a live explosive device.