AUKUS — a new trilateral security partnership among Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. — has left some friends and foes of the trio fuming. In a deal that caught other U.S. allies by surprise, Australia scrapped a $66 billion submarine contract with France in favor of developing faster and quieter nuclear-powered submarines with its new partners. While France angrily recalled its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra, China denounced the partnership as an irresponsible, Cold War-style arrangement that threatens the stability of the Indo-Pacific region. Other Indo-Pacific countries that share the AUKUS group’s concerns about Chinese military expansion in the region welcomed the move.
2021-09-20