China has called the Australian, UK, and US alliance announced on Wednesday “irresponsible” as Beijing looks to counter the new security constraints in the South China Sea. Under the AUKUS deal, Australia will build a fleet of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines using British and American technology. China “isn’t too happy about” the Australian submarine deal, according to Douglas Herbert, a Paris-based commentator for France 24.
Mr Herbert told France 24: “[China’s] ire has really been directed at the US because it seems the US is the source of all sin in this equation for this security pact.
“Sure Australia is building and buying the submarines and that is going to be obviously an irritant and it is going to change China’s security stance in that entire region.
“These are nuclear powered, not nuclear missile submarines they will have conventional weapons, but nuclear powered which makes them much more stealthy, much quicker, able to stay underwater much much longer undetected.
“In that sense, it really is a new threat to China.”
“China is calling this extremely irresponsible behaviour on the part of all three.
“Very narrow-minded thinking on the part of all three, and says what’s it going to do? And we heard this back sometime with Russia during the cold war, that it is a return to Cold War bunker mentality and that it is going to spur on, revitalize an arms race in the region.
“And it is going to end up their all shooting themselves in their foot by doing this.
“Now China would say that because as I said it is facing a new security architecture in the region.”
It comes as former National Security Adviser Lord Peter Ricketts blamed Beijing for escalating tensions in the South China Sea.
Lord Ricketts told LBC: “It is quite rich to hear the Chinese spokesman suggesting this is purely an arms race.
“China has been involved in a huge buildup of arms, including nuclear weapons, which Australia doesn’t have, for years now.
“So the tension is being stocked essentially by the aggressive Chinese approach in the region.”