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