Australia, Britain work on advancing Aukus deal as China’s clout grows

British foreign and defence ministers held talks with their Australian counterparts for the first time since Canberra signed the pact to build nuclear submarines

UK’s Elizabeth Truss said the security deal will also play a role in other areas of collaboration including cyberspace

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(Left-right) British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton during their meeting in Sydney on Friday. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:23pm, 21 Jan 2022

Britain’s top foreign and defence officials held talks with their Australian counterparts in Sydney on Friday, focusing on advancing a security pact involving nuclear-powered submarines and sharing notes on countering China’s growing clout.

UK Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss and Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace met with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Peter Dutton for the first time since Canberra signed the deal in September.

Under the so-called Aukus partnership, which cover a range of new security agreements, Australia would be able to build and operate nuclear-powered submarines for the first time with the help of London and Washington. The deal immediately prompted China and its neighbours to warn of an escalating arms race in the region.

“Aukus represents an enormous opportunity for us, not just in relation to the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines but also, rightly, as Marise points out, other capabilities which will deter acts of aggression,” Dutton told reporters in Sydney.

For Britain and America, the Aukus deal was an opportunity to grow their presence in the Indo-Pacific while Australia strengthened its ties with old allies as it grappled with rising aggression from Beijing and high Chinese tariffs on some exports.

In an interview with The Australian published before the talks, Truss said the security pact was a “fantastic agreement to be taking forward” and the intention was to foster closer industrial collaboration.