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The AUKUS alliance shows a pivot by the United Kingdom and United States towards the Indo-Pacific area and is sending a message to China with the trilateral partnership, according to ASPI Executive Director Peter Jennings. “The key message is everything Beijing has done in the last half decade has been counterproductive to its longer-term interests,” he told Sky News Australia. Jennings said the “only reason” the AUKUS alliance existed was because of the needs to “push back” against China. “The China which militarized the South China Sea, the China which took over Hong Kong when it didn’t need to – breaking a treaty with the UK, the China which is daily threatening Taiwan and Japan,” he said. “China has forced the consequential democracies of the world to push back against this type of authoritarian behaviour.”

UK, US and Australia launch pact to counter China:

The UK, US and Australia have announced a special security pact to share advanced defence technologies, in an effort to counter China. The partnership will enable Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time. The pact, to be known as AUKUS, will also cover artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and cyber.

The three countries are worried about China's growing power and military presence in the Indo-Pacific. The UK Government says this is a very significant defence agreement - a point reinforced by the fact that the leaders of Britain, the United States and Australia have appeared together by video conference to announce this partnership. It also underlines the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific region to both the US and the UK.

It will have ramifications for two other countries. First, France, a NATO ally, which had signed a deal to build a fleet of diesel electric submarines for the Australian Navy. As a result of the pact, Australia has scrapped a deal to build French-designed submarines. France won a A$50bn (€31bn; £27bn) contract to build 12 submarines for the Australian Navy in 2016. The deal was Australia's largest-ever defence contract. However, the project was hit with delays largely because of Canberra's requirement that many components be sourced locally.

The second is China. Though British officials insist the new defence agreement is not a response to any one country, the UK Government does say it is about ensuring prosperity, security and stability in the [Indo-Pacific] region and supporting a peaceful "rules-based order". And it is no secret that Britain, the US and Australia share concerns about China's [aggressive] military build up in the Indo-Pacific.

21-9-17 China applies to join key Asia-Pacific trade pact:

China has applied to join a key Asia-Pacific trade pact as it attempts to strengthen its position in the region. The move comes the day after a historic [AUKUS] security deal between the US, UK and Australia was unveiled. China's announcement that it has officially applied to join the CPTPP comes the day after the historic AUKUS security pact, in what has been seen as an effort to counter Beijing's influence in the Asia-Pacific region. The AUKUS pact will allow Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines for the first time, using technology provided by the US and the UK. The deal, which will also cover Artificial Intelligence and other technologies, is Australia's biggest defence partnership in decades, analysts said.

The pact that eventually became the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), was created by the US to counter China's influence. However, former UNpresident DJT pulled the US out of it in 2017.

The original Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was promoted by then-President Barack Obama as an economic bloc to challenge China's increasingly powerful position in the Asia Pacific. After DJT pulled the US out of the deal, Japan led negotiations to create what became the CPTPP. The CPTPP was signed in 2018 by 11 countries, including Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan and New Zealand.

In June 2021, the UK formally launched negotiations to join the CPTPP, while Thailand has also signalled interest in joining the agreement.

Joining the CPTPP would be a significant boost for China, especially after it signed up to a different free trade agreement with 14 countries - called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - in November 2020. RCEP is the world's largest trading bloc, with South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand among its members.

Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao said the world's second largest economy had submitted its application to join the free trade agreement in a letter to New Zealand's trade minister, Damien O'Connor. New Zealand acts as the administrative centre for the pact.

21-9-18 AUKUS: France recalls envoys amid security pact row: [to quote "Junior": "Childish!"]

France has said it is recalling its ambassadors in the US and Australia for consultations, in protest at a security deal which also includes the UK. The French foreign minister said the "exceptional decision" was justified by the situation's "exceptional gravity".

The AUKUS alliance angered France as it scuppered a [delay-plagued] multibillion-dollar deal it had signed with Australia. France was informed of the alliance only hours before the public announcement was made.

21-9-19 AUKUS pact delivers France some hard truths:

When they have picked themselves up from their humiliation, the French will need to gather their sangfroid and confront some cruel verities.

Number one: there is no sentiment in geostrategy. The French must see there is no point in wailing about having been shoddily treated. Who ever heard of a nation short-changing its defence priorities out of not wanting to give offence? The fact is that the Australians calculated they had underestimated the Chinese threat and so needed to boost their level of deterrence. They acted with steely disregard for French concerns but, when it comes to the crunch, that is what nations do. ............. The third harsh truth is that there is no obvious other way for France to fulfil its global ambitions. The lesson of the last week is that France by itself is too small to make much of a dent in strategic affairs. Every four years the Chinese build as many ships as there are in the entire French fleet. When it came to the crunch, the Australians preferred to be close to a superpower, not a minipower.

21-10-1 Taiwan says record 38 Chinese planes entered defence zone .

⧫ Taiwan ⇔ China ..

ROC Armed Forces ..

Taiwan ..

Xina's Bullying Diplomacy ⇻