British foreign secretary Liz Truss defends AUKUS, says pact shows UK's commitment to stability in Indo-Pacific

London: Britain’s new security agreement with the US and Australia showed the country’s “hard-headed” commitment to stability in the strategic Indo-Pacific region, UK’s new foreign secretary Liz Truss said on Sunday. The alliance — widely seen as an effort to counter China’s influence in the contested South China Sea — was announced by US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Wednesday. The pact, known as AUKUS, will see Australia being given the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines. Truss said it showed the UK’s readiness to be “hard-headed” in defending its interests. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Truss said the partnership showed the UK’s commitment to stability in the Indo-Pacific region. “Freedoms need to be defended, so we are also building strong security ties around the world,” she wrote. “This is about more than foreign policy in the abstract, but delivering for people across the UK and beyond by partnering with like-minded countries to build coalitions based on shared values and shared interests,” Truss, who was was promoted from international trade secretary to foreign secretary in the reshuffle on Wednesday, wrote. But France, whose own multi-billion submarine deal with Australia was thwarted as a result, has criticised the agreement. France has recalled its ambassadors in the US and Australia for consultations in response, while China has accused the three powers of having a “Cold War mentality”. Truss stressed that the new security pact “will not just make us safer at home, it could also create hundreds of new and high-skilled jobs…” The pact, which will also see the allies share cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and other undersea technologies, was described as showing “profound strategic shifts” by the UK’s national security adviser Stephen Lovegrove. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs that the AUKUS agreement was “not intended to be adversarial” to China but the UK was “determined to defend international law”. While China was not mentioned directly, Biden, Johnson and Morrison referred repeatedly to regional security concerns which they said had “grown significantly”. The announcement of the new trilateral security pact is the latest step by the US to push back against China’s military and technological rise. This week, Biden will host an in-person summit of the QUAD partnership of Japan, Australia and India another grouping viewed as a way to assert American leadership in Asia. He has also sought to engage other Asian leaders, and Vice President Kamala Harris visited Singapore and Vietnam late last month. Biden recently held a 90-minute telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, their first direct communication in seven months. Officials described the conversation as “familiar” and “candid,” but said Biden did not directly raise the new strategic partnership with Australia and the UK. The evolving situation in the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region in the wake of China’s aggressive muscle-flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers. China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in the South and East China seas. Beijing has also made substantial progress in militarising its man-made islands in the past few years. Beijing claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea. But Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims. In the East China Sea, China has territorial disputes with Japan. Both maritime areas in the South and East China seas are rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources. The South China Sea is also a vital commercial gateway for a substantial portion of the world’s merchant shipping. Thus it is a vital economic and strategic sub-region of the Indo-Pacific region. Meanwhile, France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has accused Australia and the US of lying over the deal. He said a “serious crisis” was in progress between the allies. “The fact that for the first time in the history of relations between the United States and France we are recalling our ambassador for consultations is a serious political act, which shows the magnitude of the crisis that exists now between our countries,” he told France 2 on Saturday. But he said France had seen “no need” to recall its ambassador to the UK, accusing the country of “constant opportunism”, the BBC reported. “Britain in this whole thing is a bit like the third wheel,” he said.