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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Sep-2021
17-Sep-21 World View -- ANKUS agreement: US and UK will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarine fleet

Web Log - September, 2021

17-Sep-21 World View -- ANKUS agreement: US and UK will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarine fleet

Furious reactions from China and France

by John J. Xenakis

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

ANKUS agreement: US and UK will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarine fleet
Furious reaction from China
Furious reaction from France

ANKUS agreement: US and UK will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarine fleet

Anika Havey, owner of Folklore Cafe in Port Adelaide, where nuclear-powered submarines will be built (Australian Broadcasting)

Anika Havey, owner of Folklore Cafe in Port Adelaide, where nuclear-powered submarines will be built (Australian Broadcasting)

The US, the UK and Australia have reached a new agreement called the "AUKUS pact." The US will provide nuclear-power technology to Australia, and Australia will build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines using the technology, with help from the US and UK. The submarines will be nuclear-powered, but they will not be capable of launching nuclear weapons. The intention is for eight nuclear-powered submarines to be built in Adelaide.

The Aukus announcement did not mention China specifically. However, it referred repeatedly to regional security concerns which they said had "grown significantly."

Commenting on the agreement, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said China was "embarking on one of the biggest military spends in history. It is growing its navy [and] air force at a huge rate. Obviously it is engaged in some disputed areas. Our partners in those regions want to be able to stand their own ground."

The agreement will also provide for industrial cooperation among the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom on other key technologies, including artificial intelligence, cyber, and long-range precision strike capabilities.

Furious reaction from China

According to China's Foreign Ministry:

"The nuclear submarine cooperation between the US, the UK and Australia has seriously undermined regional peace and stability, intensified the arms race and undermined international non-proliferation efforts. The export of highly sensitive nuclear submarine technology to Australia by the US and the UK proves once again that they are using nuclear exports as a tool for geopolitical game and adopting double standards. This is extremely irresponsible."

It's always really funny when the Chinese Communist sleazebags accuse someone of undermining peace and stability, or of being irresponsible. The Chinese Communists are emulating the Nazis by illegally annexing the South China Sea, by threatening Taiwan, and by committing genocide, rape, torture, and other atrocities against millions of Uighurs.

What the Chinese sleazebags want is to take control of the entire Indo-Pacific region, without any opposition. The Aukus agreement is a clear challenge to China's illegal military threats.

Furious reaction from France

The Ankus agreement scraps an existing $90 billion deal that Australia had with the French shipbuilding firm Naval Group. That agreement would have had France provide non-nuclear submarine technology for Australia's submarine fleet.

In an interview, France's furious Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said:

"It's just not done between allies. It's a stab in the back. This unilateral, brutal, unpredictable decision is very similar to what Mr Trump used to do. ... We had established a relationship of trust with Australia and this trust has been betrayed. This is not the end of the story."

France's Defense Ministry added:

"[Australia's decision] is contrary to the letter and spirit of the cooperation that prevailed between France and Australia, based on a relationship of political trust as well as on the development of a very high-level defence industrial and technological base in Australia. [Also,] the American choice to exclude a European ally and partner from a structuring partnership with Australia, at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, whether in terms of our values or in terms of respect for multilateralism based on the rule of law, shows a lack of coherence that France can only note with regret."

As far as I can tell, France was going to sell Australia old, out-of-date diesel-power technology for the new submarine fleet, while the Aukus agreement sells new nuclear-power technology. I assume that's the reason that Australia canceled the agreement with France and went with the Aukus agreement.

Sources:

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(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the Generational Dynamics World View News thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (17-Sep-2021) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Sep-2021 17-Sep-21 World View -- ANKUS agreement: US and UK will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarine fleet

ANKUS agreement: US and UK will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarine fleet

Furious reaction from China

Furious reaction from France

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Sep-2021
17-Sep-21 World View -- ANKUS agreement: US and UK will help Australia build nuclear-powered submarine fleet