The new AUKUS agreement does not mean, as some Australian commentators have asserted, that the country has now finally “taken sides” against China. Australia's primary security relationship is with the US, and its primary economic relationship is with China – and there is no reason to change that now.
MELBOURNE – Some world-class hyperbole has been generated by Australia’s new AUKUS technology-sharing agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom. Our proposed acquisition, in particular, of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, voiding in the process a massive deal with France to build 12 conventionally propelled diesel submarines, has fueled an uproar at home and abroad.
MELBOURNE – Some world-class hyperbole has been generated by Australia’s new AUKUS technology-sharing agreement with the United States and the United Kingdom. Our proposed acquisition, in particular, of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines, voiding in the process a massive deal with France to build 12 conventionally propelled diesel submarines, has fueled an uproar at home and abroad.