US, UK, Oz launch defence alliance to counter China

Dubbed ‘AUKUS’, the tri-nation partnership will see Australia deploy nuke-powered submarines to the Indo-Pacific region

WASHINGTON/BEIJING: In a significant development, the US, the UK and Australia on Wednesday announced a security partnership dubbed “AUKUS” that will enable Canberra to deploy nuclear-powered submarines in the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s claims in the region.

US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian PM Scott Morrison launched the alliance in a joint virtual appearance. The AUKUS pact will strive to equip Australia with nuclear propulsion technology, which the US has shared only with the UK under a decades-old arrangement put together in the face of the threat from the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines, when they deploy, will be armed with conventional weapons only, the leaders said. They said the new alliance does not supersede existing arrangements in the Indo-Pacific region, such as the Quad and Asean.

“This is about investing in our greatest source of strength, our alliances and updating them to

better meet the threats of today and tomorrow,” Biden said.

‘Extremely irresponsible’

China slammed the pact, saying it will “severely” damage regional security and spark an arms race. Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the trio was “severely damaging regional peace and stability, intensifying an arms race, and damaging international nuclear non-proliferation efforts”.

Countries shouldn’t build pacts that target third countries, he said. “This proves once again that these countries are using nuclear exports as a tool for geopolitical games,” Zhao was quoted as saying by Chinese state media.

Zhao said the US-UK decision to export nuclear-powered submarine technology to Australia

was a case of “extremely irresponsible” double standards.

Paris livid, EU surprised

The White House said US officials held talks with Paris before announcing the deal in which Australia scrapped French submarines. But France said it was taken by surprise.

The European Union, too, said it was not told in advance about the new military partnership between the three nations.