BEIJING: Cooperation of the US-UK-Australian AUKUS military alliance on nuclear submarines may provoke another arms race, China’s Defense Mi...
BEIJING: Cooperation of the US-UK-Australian AUKUS military alliance on nuclear submarines may provoke another arms race, China’s Defense Ministry Spokesman Tan Kefei said on Thursday.
"As soon as Pandora’s box is opened, the strategic balance in the region will be destroyed, the security of countries in the region will be seriously threatened which may launch a new arms race," the Defense Ministry’s statement on the WeChat social network quoted him as saying.
Australia announced plans to create its own nuclear submarine fleet in the fall of 2021 following reports about the establishment of its military alliance with the UK and the US (AUKUS). In March 2023, the alliance adopted a three-phase plan to provide Canberra with conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines. Under the plan, five US and British nuclear submarines will be deployed to Australia by 2027. Three Virginia-class US submarines will be purchased for the country’s Navy starting in 2033. The UK will build the first submarine of the new SSN-AUKUS class by the early 2040s, and production will move to Australia’s Adelaide by 2042.
Russia and China expressed concern over the alliance’s plans to build nuclear submarines and urged its participants to strictly adhere to their obligations on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
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