{"id":4933,"date":"2023-03-20T15:02:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T15:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=4933"},"modified":"2023-03-23T18:39:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T18:39:40","slug":"australia-will-not-commit-to-side-with-us-in-taiwan-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/asia\/asia-pacific\/australian-news\/australia-will-not-commit-to-side-with-us-in-taiwan-dispute\/2023\/03\/20\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia will not commit to side with US in Taiwan dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"

CANBERRA,<\/span> Australia<\/span> (Brussels Independent with AP) Dr. Majid Khan<\/span>\u00a0–<\/span> Australia’s<\/span> defense<\/span> minister<\/span> said<\/span> Australia<\/span> had<\/span> not<\/span> promised<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> States<\/span> to<\/span> support<\/span> its<\/span> allies<\/span> in<\/span> future<\/span> conflicts<\/span> over<\/span> Taiwan<\/span> in<\/span> exchange<\/span> for<\/span> American<\/span> nuclear<\/span> submarines.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>U.S.<\/span> President<\/span> Joe<\/span> Biden<\/span> and<\/span> Australian<\/span> and<\/span> British<\/span> leaders<\/span> announced<\/span> in<\/span> San<\/span> Diego<\/span> last<\/span> week<\/span> that<\/span> Australia<\/span> would<\/span> purchase<\/span> nuclear<\/span> attack<\/span> submarines<\/span> from<\/span> the<\/span> U.S.<\/span> and<\/span> expand<\/span> its<\/span> fleet<\/span> modernization<\/span> amid<\/span> growing<\/span> concerns<\/span> over<\/span> China’s<\/span> influence<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> Indo-Pacific.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Australians<\/span> opposed<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> deal<\/span> argue<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> States<\/span> will<\/span> not<\/span> deliver<\/span> up<\/span> to<\/span> her<\/span> five<\/span> Virginia-class<\/span> submarines<\/span> without<\/span> assurances<\/span> that<\/span> they<\/span> will<\/span> be<\/span> available<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> event<\/span> of<\/span> a<\/span> conflict<\/span> with<\/span> China<\/span> over<\/span> Taiwan.<\/span> Beijing<\/span> says<\/span> island<\/span> autonomy<\/span> democracies,<\/span> which<\/span> separated<\/span> from<\/span> China<\/span> after<\/span> the<\/span> 1949<\/span> civil<\/span> war,<\/span> have<\/span> an<\/span> obligation<\/span> to<\/span> unite<\/span> with<\/span> the<\/span> mainland<\/span> by<\/span> force<\/span> if<\/span> necessary.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>But<\/span> Secretary<\/span> of<\/span> Defense<\/span> Richard<\/span> Marles<\/span> said<\/span> his<\/span> administration<\/span> had<\/span> not<\/span> given<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> States<\/span> any<\/span> assurances<\/span> about<\/span> Taiwan.<\/span> “Absolutely<\/span> not.<\/span> I<\/span> can’t<\/span> say<\/span> for<\/span> sure,”<\/span> Murless<\/span> told<\/span> the<\/span> Australian<\/span> Broadcasting<\/span> Corporation’s<\/span> Insider<\/span> News<\/span> program<\/span> on<\/span> Sunday.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“The<\/span> moment<\/span> these<\/span> Virginia-class<\/span> submarines<\/span> were<\/span> first<\/span> flagged<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> early<\/span> 2030s,<\/span> the<\/span> moment<\/span> the<\/span> submarines<\/span> were<\/span> at<\/span> that<\/span> point<\/span> in<\/span> full<\/span> control<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Australian<\/span> government,<\/span> made<\/span> it<\/span> really<\/span> clear<\/span> that<\/span> no<\/span> one<\/span> else<\/span> would<\/span> stand<\/span> up.<\/span> I<\/span> would<\/span> have<\/span> expected<\/span> that,<\/span> and<\/span> that’s<\/span> clearly<\/span> the<\/span> reason<\/span> this<\/span> is<\/span> happening,”<\/span> he<\/span> added.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Australia,<\/span> like<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> States,<\/span> pursues<\/span> a<\/span> policy<\/span> of<\/span> “strategic<\/span> obscurity”<\/span> by<\/span> refusing<\/span> to<\/span> disclose<\/span> how<\/span> it<\/span> will<\/span> respond<\/span> to<\/span> Chinese<\/span> aggression<\/span> against<\/span> Taiwan.<\/span> Australia<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> States<\/span> have<\/span> also<\/span> had<\/span> bilateral<\/span> defense<\/span> treaties<\/span> since<\/span> 1951,<\/span> obliging<\/span> them<\/span> to<\/span> consult<\/span> if<\/span> one<\/span> is<\/span> attacked,<\/span> but<\/span> not<\/span> to<\/span> defend<\/span> the<\/span> other.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Former<\/span> Australian<\/span> Prime<\/span> Ministers<\/span> Paul<\/span> Keating<\/span> and<\/span> Malcolm<\/span> Turnbull<\/span> are<\/span> among<\/span> the<\/span> critics<\/span> who<\/span> question<\/span> how<\/span> Australia<\/span> could<\/span> rely<\/span> so<\/span> much<\/span> on<\/span> U.S.<\/span> technology<\/span> and<\/span> military<\/span> personnel<\/span> as<\/span> part<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> submarine<\/span> deal<\/span> to<\/span> maintain<\/span> its<\/span> sovereignty.<\/span> .<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> AUKUS<\/span> agreement,<\/span> named<\/span> after<\/span> Australia,<\/span> the<\/span> UK<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> US,<\/span> has<\/span> provoked<\/span> an<\/span> angry<\/span> response<\/span> from<\/span> China,<\/span> saying<\/span> Australia<\/span> is<\/span> following<\/span> a<\/span> “path<\/span> of<\/span> error<\/span> and<\/span> danger”.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Submarines<\/span> may<\/span> be<\/span> deployed<\/span> in<\/span> times<\/span> of<\/span> conflict,<\/span> but<\/span> their<\/span> primary<\/span> purpose<\/span> is<\/span> to<\/span> protect<\/span> important<\/span> trade<\/span> routes<\/span> through<\/span> the<\/span> South<\/span> China<\/span> Sea<\/span> and<\/span> contribute<\/span> to<\/span> regional<\/span> stability.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“Nuclear<\/span> submarines<\/span> clearly<\/span> have<\/span> the<\/span> ability<\/span> to<\/span> operate<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> context<\/span> of<\/span> warfare,<\/span> but<\/span> our<\/span> primary<\/span> intention<\/span> here<\/span> is<\/span> to<\/span> do<\/span> our<\/span> part<\/span> for<\/span> regional<\/span> stability.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CANBERRA, Australia (Brussels Independent with AP) Dr. Majid Khan\u00a0– Australia’s defense minister said Australia had not promised the United States to support its allies in future conflicts over Taiwan in exchange for American nuclear submarines. U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian and British leaders announced in San Diego last week that Australia would purchase nuclear […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[1566,24,26,280,2425],"tags":[2223,153,2224,1090,2225,1536,2226,1574,2227,1605,2228,1620,2229,1831,1878,1907,2217,2218,2219,2220,2221,2222],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/AUSFM.webp","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4933"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4933"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4935,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4933\/revisions\/4935"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}