UK pledges $34 million to enhance security in Indo-Pacific
February 17, 2022, 7:04 am

UK pledges $34 million to enhance security in Indo-Pacific

UK PM Boris Johnson with Australian PM Scott Morrison at the G20 (File photo: Boris Johnson official Facebook page)

The Times of Up reported, Britain committed $34 million to strengthen security in the Indo-Pacific as part of a pact with Australia, and the leaders of both countries expressed “grave concerns” about China’s policies in its far western region of Xinjiang.

In a video call on Thursday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison also called for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and warned Russia against invading Ukraine.

The leaders said in a joint statement after their meeting: “They agreed the need for de-escalation and underscored that any further Russian incursion in Ukraine would be a massive strategic mistake and have a stark humanitarian cost."

Morrison and Johnson said that the funds pledged to the Indo-Pacific security agreement would strengthen regional resilience in areas including cyberspace, state threats and maritime security.

Excellent discussion with my good friend Boris Johnson today on the very concerning situation in Ukraine and implications for the Indo-Pacific (File photo: Scott Morrison official Facebook page)

The bilateral talks come just a week after the so-called Quad group of Australia, the United States, Japan and India pledged to deepen cooperation to ensure the Indo-Pacific region was free from “coercion,” a reference to China’s economic and military expansion.

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Johnson and Morrison expressed “grave concerns about credible reports of human rights violations in Xinjiang, and called on China to protect the rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong.”

The United States accuses China of genocide in its treatment of minority Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang and abuse including forced and prison labor. China denies the accusations.

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China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, a move critics said undercut the greater freedoms promised under the “one country, two systems” framework agreed to when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Source: timesofup

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.