The new security pact with Australia brings international criticism to U.S and UK

The new security pact with Australia brings international criticism to U.S and UK
September 17, 2021, 3:30 am

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The BBC reported, 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.

The BBC said, the move angered France, which stated it had been "stabbed in the back", while China accused the three powers of having a "Cold War mentality".

And the pact has raised fears that it could provoke China into a war.

The BBC mentioned the that 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.

Mr Johnson later told MPs that the agreement was "not intended to be adversarial" to China.

The prime minister was questioned by his predecessor, Theresa May, about whether the deal could lead to Britain being dragged into war with China.

She asked the prime minister about the "implications" of the partnership in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Mr Johnson replied: "The United Kingdom remains determined to defend international law and that is the strong advice we would give to our friends across the world, and the strong advice that we would give to the government in Beijing."

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called the announcement a "stab in the back".

He called it a "brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision" that reminded him of former president Donald Trump.

French diplomats in Washington cancelled a gala to celebrate ties between the US and France in retaliation.

"It's a very low moment," France's former ambassador to the US, Gérard Araud, told the BBC's World Tonight programme. "The US knew that this contract and this strategic contract were essential French national interests, and the US didn't care."

China, meanwhile, has accused the allies of having a "Cold War mentality" that would hurt their own interests.

The Chinese state-run Global Times warned of an arms race for nuclear submarines, adding that Australian soldiers were likely to be the "first to die" in a Chinese "counterattack".

The BBC noted, the pact, which will also see the allies share cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and other undersea technologies, was described as showing "profound strategic shifts" by the UK's national security adviser Stephen Lovegrove.

It means Australia will become just the seventh nation in the world to operate nuclear-powered submarines.

Source: bbc

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