 In a BBC interview on August 17, 2006, he told the US to "shut up" regarding criticism on arms spending of China, noting that U.S. arms expenditure was half of the world's total.In 2007, "Foreign Policy" magazine published a satirical commentary purporting to be by Sha, the "UN Secretary for Kicking Butt," and in 2010 called Sha "China's John Bolton" (the famously blunt U.S. ambassador to the UN under President George W. Bush).At an Austrian meeting of UN officials in September 2010, he said to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, "I know you never liked me, Mr. Secretary-General.