by Rebecca Camber, Chris Pleasance, Katie Feehan and Martin Robinson at The Daily Mail
Joe Biden has found himself at the epicenter of another international outcry after the President announced a new pact between the US, UK and Australia to build a fleet of nuclear submarines to combat China.
The new alliance – called AUKUS – will see the US and UK cooperate to build Australia’s first ever nuclear submarine fleet of at least eight vessels.
It has been condemned by China as an example of ‘Cold War mentality’ and left France fuming after the new deal saw a pre-existing $90billion contract for France to build Australia’s subs torn up.
Biden’s declaration of the three-way deal was confirmation of a new allied nuclear and technological arms race against China, which has been increasing its military presence in the South China sea where valuable trading routes and fertile fishing grounds are located.
In addition to the US and UK co-ordinating to build Australia’s submarines, the allied trio will share other military technologies such as artificial intelligence, cyber defense, quantum computing and long-range strike capabilities.
China wasted little time responding to the deal, denouncing it as an ‘exclusionary bloc’ while accusing the allies of possessing a ‘Cold War mentality’, but Beijing is by no means the only party angered by President Biden’s announcement.
Paris was also quick to react as enraged diplomats declared they had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by Biden and Johnson, as a $90bn deal for France to supply Australia’s new submarines was overlooked in favour of the US-UK offer.
The French vessels were due some time in the mid-2030s, while Biden’s new pact is thought to move that date significantly closer.
‘This brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me a lot of what Mr Trump used to do,’ French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told franceinfo radio. ‘I am angry and bitter. This isn’t done between allies.’
Biden meanwhile on Wednesday said France remained a ‘key partner in the Indo-Pacific zone.’
The deal also side-lines New Zealand and Canada – who together with the US, UK and Australia make up the Cold War-era Five Eyes intelligence alliance, but now appear isolated from the group.
Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s left-wing leader, has since admitted that she was not even consulted by Biden, Johnson or Australian PM Scott Morrison on the new pact – adding that Australia’s new subs will be banned from entering New Zealand waters under the country’s long-standing ‘nuclear free’ policy.
The move appears to punish New Zealand and Canada for failing to take a stronger stance against Beijing, coming just four months after New Zealand refused to sign a joint Five Eyes statement which criticized China’s aggression in the South China Sea, its crackdown in Hong Kong, threats to Taiwan and its treatment of Uyghur Muslims…
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