Aukus won’t spark Asian arms race: US Ambassador to Indonesia

Sung Kim plays down regional concerns over the nuclear submarine pact between the US, UK and Australia, saying it is ‘not directed at any particular country’

Follows concern from Indonesia and Malaysia, and fears among Asean countries that defence pact – widely seen as countering China – will make them take sides

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The Aukus pact will see the US, Britain and Australia share nuclear submarine technology. Photo: Handout

Published: 10:15pm, 29 Sep 2021Updated: 12:17am, 30 Sep 2021

The American ambassador to Indonesia, Sung Kim, said on Wednesday that the Aukus defence pact – in which the United States and Britain will share nuclear submarine technology with Australia – would not lead to an arms race in the Indo-Pacific.

“I am not concerned about an arms race or [nuclear] proliferation. I think all three countries have a very, very strong record and commitment to non-proliferation. Australia has shown its complete commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, so we have great confidence in its ability to manage any proliferation concerns,” Kim told a webinar held by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.

Kim’s comments followed a statement by Indonesia in which it had said it was “deeply concerned over the continuing arms race and power projection in the region”, and called on Australia to meet its nuclear non-proliferation obligations and to uphold the rule of law as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.

In what appeared to be an attempt to play down these concerns, ambassador Kim said the defence pact was not “directed at any particular country”.

“I think this is a forward-looking positive initiative that will improve the capacities and capabilities of three countries to work together more closely and more effectively with [Southeast Asian countries].”

Sung Kim is the US ambassador to Indonesia and also the US Special Envoy for North Korea. Photo: Reuters

The defence pact between Australia, the US, and Britain has been widely interpreted as a response to China’s rising aggressiveness in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the South China Sea, where territorial disputes are ongoing between the world’s second largest economy and several Southeast Asian states.