The US and UK are facing growing international criticism over a new security pact signed with Australia. The deal – seen as an effort to counter China – will see the US and UK give Australia the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines. This strategic alliance in the Indo-Pacific has angered France and the European Union also. They’re feeling left out and interpreting it as a return to the Trump era.
France said it had been “stabbed in the back”, while China accused the three powers of having a “Cold War mentality”. The pact has also raised fears that it could provoke China into a war. The alliance, known as Aukus, was announced by US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Wednesday. French and European Union officials went further, saying the agreement calls into question the entire cooperative effort to blunt China’s growing influence and underscores the importance of languishing plans to boost Europe’s own defense and security capabilities. While they did not mention China, Aukus is being widely viewed as an effort to counter Beijing’s influence in the contested South China Sea. Mr Johnson later told MPs that the agreement was “not intended to be adversarial” to China. France will lose a nearly $100 billion deal to build diesel submarines for Australia under the terms of the initiative, which will see the U.S. and Britain help Canberra construct nuclear-powered ones.
