Australia shrugs off China anger on nuclear subs - NEWS.com.au

Map showing disputed claims in the South China Sea.

Australia on Friday shrugged off Chinese anger over its decision to acquire US nuclear-powered submarines and vowed to defend the rule of law in airspace and waters where Beijing has staked multiple hotly contested claims.

US President Joe Biden announced the new Australia-US-Britain defence alliance on Wednesday, extending US nuclear submarine technology to Australia as well as cyber defence, applied artificial intelligence and undersea capabilities.

China has its own "very substantive programme of nuclear submarine building", Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday in an interview with radio station 2GB.

In a series of media interviews, the Australian leader said his government was reacting to changing dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region where territory is increasingly contested and competition is rising.

"We are interested in ensuring that international waters are always international waters and international skies are international skies, and that the rule of law applies equally in all of these places," he said.

"That's very important whether it is for trade, whether it is for things like undersea cables, for planes and where they can fly. I mean that is the order that we need to preserve. That is what peace and stability provides for and that is what we are seeking to achieve."

China claims almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in shipping trade passes annually, rejecting competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

China has also imposed tough economic sanctions on Australian products across a range of sectors.

Morrison said the new defence alliance, announced after more than 18 months of discussions with the United States and Britain, will be permanent.

Speaking during a visit to Washington for talks with his US counterparts, Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton was even more dismissive of the reaction by some Chinese officials and government-backed media, describing it as "counterproductive and immature and frankly embarrassing".  

He said Australia was willing to host more US Marines on rotation through the northern city of Darwin and wanted to see air capability enhanced.

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2021-09-17 03:04:19Z
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