Many pacts, treaties, and alliances against China have been made to counter its aggressive actions in recent years. Many countries are involved with China directly or indirectly in disputes, whether it is a land dispute or border sharing dispute, unlawful claims over the islands of the Philippines, Pacific Ocean disputes, etc. One such famous pact is QUAD.
And now AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK, and the US to counter the aggressive actions of China.
This pact is also very special because, after World War 2, this is the first time these three countries have come up forward and made any pact that too to counter Chinese actions.
What is so special about this pact?
The foremost aim of this pact is to provide and well equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, in light of the Chinese navy power that already has nuclear-powered submarines.
This pact also talks about sharing cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and other underwater sea technologies.
Also, the pact focuses on military cooperation and capabilities, separating it from Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes New Zealand and Canada.
Why nuclear-powered submarines?
There are numerous advantages of these nuclear-powered submarines over conventional submarines.
These submarines are much faster and harder to detect on radar which is an advantage as the enemy country will not be able to detect either the location or the range. They can also stay submerged under water for a longer time period, which gives them an added advantage to save itself from the enemy’s line of fire.
In the past 50 years, the US has not shared its submarine technology with any country other than the UK. However, Australia will build its nuclear power submarines with US technology.
Why is the US giving its technology to Australia?
Huge water bodies surround both China and Australia, and considering the pattern of the former’s reaction in oceanic regions, there is a possibility of war that would be mainly in water. Therefore, the Australian navy must be well equipped with the latest missiles and marine technology to counter Chinese forces in the Indo-Pacific region.
Another advantage is for the US is that it enjoys superpower status, and only China is constantly challenging the US directly or indirectly over the period. Therefore, to maintain its superpower status, the US needs to put a break over Chinese aggression. The US wants to make a strong presence in the indo-pacific region.
With this Australia will become the 7th nation in the world to have nuclear-powered submarines after the US, the UK, France, China, India, and Russia.
AUKUS and China
There have been many issues the world is facing with China’s attitude of captivating other countries’ resources and land. It includes trade disputes related to US sanctions, Beijing’s aggressive reaction in the South-China sea claiming 80% of the international water, which is against the UN conventions, human rights violations in Hong Kong where innocent people were brutally exploited. Hence, a strong alliance has always been in need to put an end to the unreasonable Chinese actions.
However, only time will tell how successful this new alliance will be.
