China hits out at ‘highly irresponsible’ Aukus defence pact between US, Britain and Australia and warns of Pacific arms race
- Beijing says the new three-way partnership that will give Australia nuclear-powered submarines will ‘severely damage’ peace and stability
- Foreign ministry spokesman challenges Canberra to reflect on whether it sees China as a ‘partner or a threat’
The partnership will see the United States and Britain providing Australia with the technology to deploy the vessels in future.
Only six countries in the world – America, Britain, China, France, India and Russia – currently operate nuclear-powered submarines.
03:51
US, UK, Australia announce ‘historic’ military partnership in Pacific
US officials said these vessels could be deployed for longer periods than other subs, were harder to detect and would provide a stronger deterrent.
The leaders of the three nations stressed Australia will not be fielding nuclear weapons, but officials said they would look into jointly developing other advanced technologies such artificial intelligence, cyber, undersea and quantum technology.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Thursday the three-way pact would “severely damage regional peace and stability and intensify the arms race”.
Zhao called the move “extremely irresponsible” and that China will closely monitor future developments.
China demands foreign ships report before entering ‘its territorial waters’
He said countries should not build exclusionary blocs targeting or harming the interests of third parties, and called on Australia to rethink its position on China.
Lu Xiang, a research fellow studying China-US relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Beijing will need to closely monitor the changes in Australia’s military capabilities and implications for China’s security.
“The move means Australia is tying itself completely to America’s chariot. It will mean that Australia will be equipped with surprise attack capabilities. China and other regional countries will be looking at Australia differently from now on,” said Lu.
“It is unlikely to change the overall strategic balance in the region, but we will need answers on what this new fleet of submarines will be capable of, and whether they will carry nuclear weapons.”
Speaking after Wednesday’s announcement, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the country was also planning to enhance its long-range strike capability, by arming its its Hobart-class destroyers with Tomahawk cruise missiles and extending the range of the air-to-surface missiles on its jets.
US says Chinese rule on South China Sea access threatens freedom of navigation
“This is a surprising and extremely welcome sign of the Biden administration’s willingness to empower close allies like Australia through the provision of highly advanced defence technology assistance – something that Washington has rarely been willing to do,” said Ashley Townshend, director of Foreign Policy and Defence at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.
“It suggests a new and more strategic approach to working collectively with allies on Indo-Pacific defence priorities.”
The three leaders did not mention China in their joint press conference.
Morrison is due to travel to Washington next week to meet Biden as well as the leaders of the two other Quad members, India and Japan.
He said he had spoken to his Indian and Japanese counterparts, Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga, ahead of the announcement, and indicated he wanted to continue to engage with China despite the two nations ’ deteriorating relationship.
Collin Koh, a research fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the new pact will intensify the geopolitical and military rivalry between the major powers in the region.
“If Aukus and the Quad for that matter would presage more military presence in China’s immediate neighbourhood we could likely expect intensification of such presence and counter-presence activities by these regional militaries. That, of course, means forces operating in close proximity at greater regularity.
“At the very least, we would expect China to keep at its military build-up, and in some other areas such as tech, push on with its agenda.”
Australian businesses ‘weren’t naive, irresponsible to rely on China trade’
The new pact means Canberra will abandon a previous submarine deal with France – a move that caused intense anger in Paris.
“It’s a stab in the back. We had established a trusting relationship with Australia, and this trust was betrayed,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Franceinfo radio, adding that he had spoken to his Australian counterpart days ago and received no serious indication of the move.
A statement from Le Drian and Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly also attacked the US, saying: “The American choice to push aside an ally and European partner like France from a structuring partnership with Australia, at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges in the Indo-Pacific region … shows a lack of consistency France can only note and regret.”
The announcement prompted concern elsewhere in Europe because it came on the eve of the launch of the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
A spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc had not been informed about the security partnership and was trying to find out more.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern indicated that the country would block Australian nuclear-powered vessels from passing through its waters, in line with a long-standing anti-nuclear policy, but said the arrangement “in no way changes our security and intelligence ties with these three countries, as well as Canada” [the other member of the Five Eyes alliance].
Zhu Feng, Professor of International Relations at Nanjing University, said the new alliance cements Washington’s shift of focus from Europe to the Asia Pacific, and that he expects more countries, such as Japan, to join in future.
China takes shot at Kamala Harris’s bullying South China Sea claims
“This is a step up for US Indo-Pacific strategy … It leads to questions about whether we are entering a nuclear arms race in the South Pacific,” said Zhu.
Arun Prakash, a former Indian chief of naval staff, said the development could add “substance” to the Quad, which is currently a loosely defined security dialogue.
“Everywhere China is getting its way,” Prakash said. “They don’t seem to listen to reason. There are talks going on, negotiations going on but they are all fruitless.
“So I think it was about time that there was a show of spine and a show of resolve by all the other countries, which are suffering from China’s aggressive posture. Of all the countries India is actually the worst sufferer.”
Additional reporting by John Power and Robert Delaney
