In Beijing, it has not gone down well that the Anglophone Aukus tripartite, made up of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, has formalized the agreement to provide Canberra with nuclear-powered submarines. The alliance of these three great democracies was presented in September 2021 as an arms twinning to counter the military expansion of the Asian giant, which from the beginning accused Washington of trying to build a new NATO in the Indo-Pacific against China.
"The agreement is a flagrant act that damages peace and stability in the region." That has been the response of the Chinese delegation to the UN, which has accused Australia of violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
"The irony of the Aukus is that two nuclear weapon states that claim to uphold the highest standard of nuclear non-proliferation are transferring tons of weapons-grade enriched uranium to a non-nuclear weapon state, clearly violating the object and purpose of the NPT," wrote the diplomatic mission on his Twitter account.
Hours later, from the daily press conference at the Beijing Foreign Ministry, spokesman Wang Wenbin had the same line: "The Aukus submarine program is under a typical Cold War mentality, which will only stimulate an arms race, It will sabotage the international nuclear non-proliferation system and harm regional peace and stability." Wang further said that the alliance partners had "completely ignored the concerns of the international community and gone further down a wrong and dangerous path."
In San Diego, where the signing of the new agreement has been celebrated, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has celebrated "the largest single investment in defense capacity in our history", but has reiterated that at no time has his country violated the NPT . The American Joe Biden has tried to specify the same, pointing out that the at least five submarines that Australia will acquire will be nuclear-powered, not nuclear weapons.
"Australia is a state that prides itself on being nuclear-free, and is committed to remaining so," said Biden, who, after revealing the details of the submarine deal, said he hoped to have a talk with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping "soon". although he did not specify when.
"As a non-nuclear-weapon state, Australia is not seeking, and will not seek, to acquire nuclear weapons; it will not enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel as part of this program; it will not produce its own nuclear fuel for its submarines," the joint statement read. Aukus partners.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in a briefing on Tuesday that his government had made more than 60 calls in recent days to various world leaders to explain the nuclear-powered submarine deal, including trying to contact their Chinese counterparts, without getting answers.
From Beijing, which during its recently closed annual legislative session announced an increase in the military budget and the need to promote the modernization of its armed forces, both official spokesmen and newspapers controlled by the Communist Party accuse Washington of militarizing the region.
"Both China and the US are very busy this March. China negotiating an unexpected reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, while the US is busy paving the way for more tensions and conflicts, through moves including the promotion of Aukus. When China becomes sit with friends, it is for peace. When the United States and its partners meet, the agenda is about fueling confrontation," said an editorial in the Chinese newspaper Global Times.
As the Aukus met in California, the South Korean and US militaries began their annual joint war drills. Military drills that came after North Korea fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine on Sunday and another two short-range ballistic projectiles off its east coast on Tuesday.
This week, the US and the Philippines have also launched joint exercises involving more than 3,000 soldiers from both countries. "The scenarios would involve the defense of the Philippine archipelago from possible foreign aggressors," explained the head of the Philippine Army, Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner.
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