China Frowns At US, Britain And Australia Indo-Pacific Security Alliance

<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>China<&sol;strong> frowns at alliance<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that China on Thursday denounced a new Indo-Pacific security alliance between the United States&comma; Britain and Australia&comma; saying such partnerships should not target third countries and warning of an intensified arms race in the region&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Under the arrangement&comma; dubbed AUKUS&comma; the United States and Britain will provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The United States and its allies are looking for ways to push back against China&&num;8217&semi;s growing power and influence&comma; particularly its military buildup&comma; pressure on Taiwan and deployments in the contested <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchng&period;com&sol;">South<&sol;a> China Sea&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;U&period;S&period; President Joe Biden&comma; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not mention China by name in the joint announcement and senior Biden administration officials&comma; who briefed reporters ahead of time&comma; said the partnership was not aimed at countering Beijing&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the three countries were &&num;8220&semi;severely damaging regional peace and stability&comma; intensifying an arms race&comma; and damaging international nuclear non-proliferation efforts&&num;8221&semi;&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;China always believes that any regional mechanism should conform to the trend of peace and development of the times and help enhance mutual trust and cooperation&&num;8230&semi; It should not target any third party or undermine its interests&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he told a regular briefing in Beijing&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Johnson said the pact was not meant to be adversarial and said it would reduce the costs of Britain&&num;8217&semi;s next generation of nuclear submarines&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;Now that we have created AUKUS we expect to accelerate the development of other advanced defence systems including in cyber&comma; artificial intelligence&comma; quantum computing and undersea capabilities&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Johnson told parliament&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The three leaders stressed Australia would not be fielding nuclear weapons but using nuclear propulsion systems for the vessels to guard against threats&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;We all recognise the imperative of ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific over the long term&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Biden said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;We need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region&comma; and how it may evolve because the future of each of our nations and indeed the world depends on a free and open Indo-Pacific enduring and flourishing in the decades ahead&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Morrison said Australia would meet all of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;One U&period;S&period; official said the partnership was the result of months of engagements by military and political leaders during which Britain &&num;8211&semi; which recently sent an aircraft carrier to Asia &&num;8211&semi; had indicated it wanted to do more in the region<br &sol;>&NewLine;New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the focus on the Indo-Pacific but said Australia&&num;8217&semi;s nuclear-powered submarines would not be allowed in its territorial waters&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Singapore said it had long had relations with Australia&comma; Britain and the United States and hoped their grouping would contribute to peace and stability&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Japan said the three countries&&num;8217&semi; strengthening of security and defence cooperation was important for peace and security&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;A U&period;S&period; official briefing before the announcement said Biden had not mentioned the plans &&num;8220&semi;in any specific terms&&num;8221&semi; to Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a call last Thursday&comma; but did &&num;8220&semi;underscore our determination to play a strong role in the Indo-Pacific&&num;8221&semi;&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;U&period;S&period; officials said nuclear propulsion would allow the Australian navy to operate more quietly&comma; for longer periods&comma; and provide deterrence across the Indo-Pacific&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The partnership ends Australia&&num;8217&semi;s 2016 deal with French shipbuilder Naval Group to build it a new submarine fleet worth &dollar;40 billion to replace its more than two-decades-old Collins submarines&comma; a spokesperson for Morrison said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Meanwhile&comma; France has accused Biden of stabbing it in the back and acting like his predecessor Donald Trump&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8220&semi;This brutal&comma; unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me a lot of what Mr Trump used to do&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told franceinfo radio&period; &&num;8220&semi;I am angry and bitter&period; This isn&&num;8217&semi;t done between allies&period;&&num;8221&semi;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Biden said the three governments would launch an 18-month consultation period &&num;8220&semi;to determine every element of this programme&comma; from workforce&comma; to training requirements&comma; to production timelines&&num;8221&semi; and to ensure full compliance with non-proliferation commitments&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>Source&colon; Reuters<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;