Last Wednesday, Australia, the United States (US), and the United Kingdom (UK) announced an agreement that will give Australia nuclear submarine technology. The move has annoyed China, which often opposes the US, and it has shocked and upset France – a strong US ally.
The agreement, known as AUKUS (for Australia, UK, and US), was announced on Wednesday by US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
(Source: The White House, screenshot via Twitter.)
The leaders say the agreement is meant to bring peace and stability to an area known as the Indo-Pacific, which includes the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
Under the agreement, the three countries agree to work together militarily in the Indo-Pacific region. They also agreed to share computer and undersea technology and to improve cooperation in science and business.
(Source: Eric Gaba (Sting) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons.)
China wasn’t mentioned in the AUKUS announcement, but building a defense against China’s growing influence in the area is clearly the main aim of the agreement.
In recent years, China has shown growing signs that it wants to bring the area under its control; for example: claiming control of the South China Sea, building up its military in the area, sending its ships into areas claimed by other countries, and sending fighter jets into Taiwan’s airspace.
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China wasn’t mentioned, but defending against China’s growing influence is clearly the main aim of the agreement. In recent years, China has shown growing signs that it wants to bring the area under its control. Above, three Chinese warships docked in Sydney, Australia in 2019.
In a key part of the agreement, the US will help Australia build at least eight nuclear powered submarines. So far, only six countries (China, France, India, Russia, the UK, and the US) have nuclear submarines.
Some people believe that Australia having nuclear powered submarines could be a strong balance to China’s power in the area.
(Source: US Navy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.)
Nuclear powered submarines are better than submarines powered by diesel fuel because they can stay underwater for months. They are faster, and harder for enemies to locate. They can also carry more missiles, and shoot them farther.
Though nuclear fuel will power the submarines, the AUKUS leaders stressed that the submarines wouldn’t carry nuclear weapons.
(Source: The White House, screenshot via Twitter.)
China condemned the agreement, suggesting that the AUKUS countries are treating the situation like a new Cold War. During the Cold War, the US and Russia didn’t actually fight, but built up huge amounts of dangerous nuclear weapons.
The new plan has also made France extremely upset. That’s because France already had a US$66 billion deal to help Australia develop diesel powered submarines. Australia broke its 2016 agreement with France to make the AUKUS deal.
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The new plan has made France extremely upset. To make the AUKUS agreement, Australia broke a US$66 billion deal with France. Above, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and French President Emmanuel Macron meet in June.
Calling the AUKUS announcement a “stab in the back”, France has asked its ambassadors to return from the US and Australia. This is an extremely serious diplomatic move, and shows how angry France is over the agreement. Ambassadors are rarely recalled, especially among allies.
Some countries in Europe were more upset about the surprise announcement than the agreement itself. Many European countries are close US allies, and expect to be told about important moves like this ahead of time. Now, some European leaders are questioning whether they can trust the US and the UK.
(Source: The White House, screenshot via Twitter.)
It may take a long time for the US and the UK to rebuild their relationships with France and other European nations.
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Other Asian countries are also concerned about the agreement. Indonesian and Malaysian leaders have suggested that rather than bringing peace to the area, the new agreement could raise tensions with China even higher.