Aukus: US, Australia, UK leaders set to reveal details of nuclear submarine deal as China warns of arms race
- Biden, Albanese and Sunak will gather in San Diego to flesh out the pact that experts say seeks to convince China ‘that it is no longer operating in a permissive security environment’
- Beijing has accused the three countries of setting back nuclear non-proliferation efforts, but Australia has made clear that it will not pursue atomic weapons
Ahead of the expected announcement for British-built submarines with US parts, China warned that Aukus risked setting off an arms race and accused the three countries of setting back nuclear non-proliferation efforts.
“We urge the US, the UK and Australia to abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum games, honour international obligations in good faith and do more things that are conducive to regional peace and stability,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.
Australia has made clear that it will not pursue nuclear weapons, unlike its two allies.
But nuclear-powered submarines would allow Australia in the coming decades to maintain an underwater presence for months on end, offering an advantage as China’s military expands its reach.
Britain’s The Times newspaper reported that Australia is expected to acquire submarines built by Britain, rather than the US, under the Aukus pact because it is easier to crew the smaller UK vessels.
Charles Edel, the Australia chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that the US through Aukus was strengthening two of its closest allies and seeking to convince China “that it is no longer operating in a permissive security environment.”
“Each nation has a slightly different rationale for Aukus but it largely boils down to China,” he said.
China “was not mentioned when Aukus was first announced, although the exponential growth of Beijing’s military power and its more aggressive views over the past decade were the clear animating force behind it,” he said.
For Australia, Aukus represents a major shift in strategy as distrust grows of China, while for Britain, the partnership offers a new outlet for influence after its divorce from the European Union, Edel said.
Ahead of his travel to San Diego, Sunak headed to Paris to discuss joint operations in the Pacific between the British and French navies.
Sunak said that an updated British security review that is coming out on Monday was in line with France’s own Indo-Pacific strategy released last year.
The Asia-Pacific is “an increasingly important part of the global economy, it is home to half the world’s population, 40 per cent of global GDP, and that’s set to increase significantly,” Sunak told reporters.
“It’s understandable that both the French and ourselves are keen to be more active participants in the region.”
France in anger recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra over Australia’s scrapping of the 2016 submarine deal, although relations with the US have returned to normal.
A French official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the San Diego summit was “none of our business” but that the three nations had made a point of consulting on what they are doing.
“We continue to think it was a mistake,” he said. “Regarding Australia, it was treason.”
While initially seen as a bonanza for US industry, Aukus has also stirred some concern in Washington over pressure on the defence industry, which is also racing to arm Ukraine.
Biden proposed a major boost in submarine production capacity in a budget proposal this week.