Unsurprisingly, China was quick to criticize the supply by the United States and Great Britain to Australia of the technology allowing Canberra to acquire nuclear submarines as part of the new Aukus alliance. (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) launched by the White House, Wednesday September 15. On Thursday, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ruled “Totally irresponsible” this tripartite agreement which “Seriously undermines regional peace and stability and intensifies the arms race”. For him, this agreement raises doubts about “Australia’s sincerity in honoring its nuclear non-proliferation commitments.”
At around the same time, the nationalist daily Global Times spoke much harsher. “The world must prepare for a nuclear submarine fever”, he asserts. Above all, the daily explicitly threatens Australia. While there is no geopolitical conflict between the two countries, he believes, “Australia places itself in a position of adversary of China”. With the consequence that in the event of a conflict, China could target Australians for “Send a warning to others”. And so, “Australian troops may well be the first contingent of Western soldiers to waste their lives in the South China Sea.”
Strongly deteriorated relationships
This martial tone comes as relations between Australia and China are already severely deteriorated. But it is undoubtedly up to Beijing’s concerns. China is particularly worried about the formalization of the Quad, this “Asian NATO”, in its words, which brings together the United States, Australia, Japan and India. For the first time, the leaders of these four countries will meet face-to-face at the White House on September 24. China has a border dispute with India and claims certain islets administered by Japan.
In addition, the South China Sea, of which China claims most of it, is the subject of frequent tensions between Beijing and its neighbors but also with the United States and to a lesser extent France and Great Britain. Finally, Taiwan is also a hotbed of major tensions. The island, which Beijing claims as one of its provinces, is also currently carrying out major military maneuvers, just like Japan. Both feeling threatened by China, Taipei and Tokyo have recently deepened their military cooperation.
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