Beijing believes that it will fuel the arms race and nuclear proliferation. Biden: Canberra will have nuclear-powered submarines, not nuclear weapons. The Australians will buy 3-5 US submarines and develop a new type with London. Cost: 229 billion dollars. Chinese Watchers: Australia sacrifices economy for US containment of China.
Beijing () – The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared today that, with Aukus, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom are ignoring the concerns of the international community and are heading down a “wrong” and “dangerous” path.
Yesterday in San Diego, the representatives of Washington, Canberra and London revealed the details of the military pact that was signed in September 2021, a new tool to contain the geopolitical rise of China.
Aukus will allow Australia to buy and then build nuclear-powered submarines for its fleet using US technology and know-how that only Britain has so far been able to benefit from. The agreement provides for trilateral cooperation in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum technology and missile technology. The three governments will also work on developing hypersonic missiles and systems to defend against them.
Beijing accuses Aukus of fueling an arms race in the Western Pacific and nuclear proliferation. Joe Biden stressed that the new submarines supplied to the Australian Navy will be nuclear powered and not atomic weapons.
Under the agreement, a small number of US and UK submarines will be based in Perth, Western Australia from 2027. In the early years of the next decade, Canberra will purchase three US Virginia-class submarines, with the option of adding two more. At the same time, Australia and the United Kingdom will jointly build a new type of submarine using British design and technology from the three countries.
The plan will cost Australians about 229 billion euros over 30 years, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, noting it would create thousands of jobs in the country’s shipyards.
The Global Times reported yesterday that Aukus essentially serves to arm Australia into a US asset against China. According to the nationalist propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party, Canberra is sacrificing its economic interests for Washington’s strategic ones. He refers to the fact that China is the first commercial partner of the Australians, already affected in recent years by the “punitive” tariffs that Beijing imposed on them due to some hostile positions adopted by the Albanese’s predecessors.
The objection is shared by several Western analysts. In 2022, Australian exports to China fell 13.1% from the previous year; on the other hand, those of the United States grew by 1.5%.
