The US, Australia and the UK revealed details of a plan to bring electricity to Canberra Nuclear-powered attack submarines from the early 2030s to the counter Xi Jinping‘s growing ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
What happened: president Joe Biden announced the agreement as part of the 2021 AUKUS partnership at the US Naval Base in San Diego on Monday.
Australian Prime Minister Anton Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attended the ceremony. Biden said the agreement was part of a shared commitment to a free and open indo-pacific region with two of America’s “strongest and most capable allies”.
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“For the first time ever, three submarine fleets across the Atlantic and Pacific will work together to keep our oceans clear…for decades to come,” Sunak said, calling it “a strong partnership.”
Australian Defense Secretary Richard Marles said it had offered China a briefing on its nuclear submarine deal with Washington and London but was not aware of any response from Beijing.
Meanwhile, Beijing has condemned AUKUS as an illegal act of nuclear proliferation. China’s permanent mission in the United Nations said in a tweet following the announcement that the plan “poses serious nuclear proliferation risks, undermines the international non-proliferation regime, fuels arms races and violates peace and stability.”
The US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called Biden has also signaled his “willingness to speak.” with President Xi. “When the People’s Congress is over and the government, including the President, resumes its work in Beijing, the (US) President awaits the opportunity to make a phone call.”
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