Australia would get US technology such as the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) submarine, seen here transiting the Strait of Hormuz in 2020. PHOTO: US Navy via Washington Post.
(c) 2021, The Washington Post – Lily Kuo
China on Thursday condemned a decision by the United States and Britain to share highly sensitive nuclear submarine technology with Australia, seen as a direct challenge to Beijing and its growing military ambitions.
Following President Joe Biden’s announcement on Wednesday of a new defense alliance, known as AUKUS, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian described the agreement as “extremely irresponsible” as Chinese state media alerted Australia to that he was now an “adversary” of China and that he should “prepare for the worst.”
At a routine press conference in Beijing, Zhao said the alliance “seriously threatens regional peace and stability, exacerbates the arms race and undermines international non-proliferation efforts.”
He accused the United States and Britain of using a “double standard” and profiting from their nuclear exports as a “tool in their geopolitical games”, while berating them and calling on them to “abandon their retrograde Cold War mentality” – a common saying of the spokesmen of the ministry.
“Otherwise, they will only manage to shoot themselves in the foot,” he added.
Although Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not mention China in their remarks on Wednesday, the decision is widely seen as a response to China’s growing economic might and military deployment. and his diplomatic influence. China is estimated to have six nuclear attack submarines, and is planning to increase the fleet in the next decade.
On Thursday, Chinese commentators and state media criticized the decision as another example of the US attempts to contain China. The highly nationalist newspaper Global Times described the United States as “hysterically polarizing” in its alliance system and as “going crazy trying to rally its allies against China.”
“Owning nuclear submarines will now become a universal temptation. The world must prepare for the arrival of ‘nuclear submarine fever’, ”the editorial said.
The Global Times said in its editorial that Australia was America’s “lapdog” and that it had become an adversary of Beijing. “As Australia has become a spearhead against China, that country must prepare for the worst,” he warned.
Under the Biden administration, Washington and Beijing have been in a continuous confrontation over human rights, trade and potential conflict sites such as the South China Sea or Taiwan.
There has been little progress in the United States’ attempts to place China on environmental commitments in the face of a crucial international event to be held in November. A 90-minute phone call between President Xi Jinping and President Biden last week had unspecific results, including a lack of agreement on a potential meeting between the two leaders.
Author Information:
Lily Kuo is the China bureau chief for the Washington Post. She previously served as the Beijing bureau chief for the Guardian. Prior to that, he reported for Quartz in Kenya, Hong Kong and New York, and for Reuters in New York and Washington.
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