US President Joe Biden speaks about the Australia, UK, US (AUKUS) Partnership as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the UK and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia attend Point Loma Naval Base in San Francisco. Diego, California, USA.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | beautiful images
The US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security said the trilateral defense and security treaty between Australia, the UK and the US – commonly known as AUKUS – would not trigger an arms race. nuclear sites in the Indo-Pacific region. .
Ambassador Bonnie Denise Jenkins said the security framework was intended to enhance stability and not “create problems”. “There is some inaccurate information about the purpose of AUKUS and what we are trying to do.”
The AUKUS Alliance is fake in 2021 to address common regional concerns about China's growing power and military influence. It involves an acquisition by Australia nuclear-powered attack submarineamong other defense cooperation items.
China then reactedwarns of the risk of an arms race as well as the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
“It's very important for countries to understand that this is not about creating a race – creating any kind of arms race,” she said. Nuclear submarines are permitted under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and Australia will not become a nuclear weapons state. more.
Jenkins said the coalition partners will continue to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that “we are doing everything to have the highest operational standards in what we are trying to do.” presently”.
China's reaction
China reiterated its warning that Western powers in the AUKUS security pact are fomenting division and risking nuclear proliferation in the South Pacific in its latest remarks.
“Through AUKUS, the US intends to introduce the development of nuclear submarines into the region, which violates the purposes of the South Thai Nuclear Free Zone Treaty,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Vuong Van Ban. Binh Duong and creates a serious risk of nuclear weapons proliferation.” said at a press conference of the Ministry.
He accused the US of bringing “even more countries into the group under false pretenses”, adding that “China has always opposed the bloc's confrontation in this region”.
Earlier this month, AUKUS defense ministers said they were considering cooperation with Japan under Pillar 2 of the AUKUS framework. Pillar 2 covering areas such as cyber, artificial intelligence, quantum technology and undersea capabilities.
“Recognizing Japan's strength and the close bilateral defense partnership with all three countries, we are considering cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Pillar II capacity building projects,” the statement said.
Jenkins said there is no “specific timeline for Japan or any other countries with which we are consulting on additional partnerships.”
“It's important that we conduct a deliberative process. These are discussions that we will have with countries based on what we think is important in terms of what our partners supplementation may bring about.”
