The Biden administration Thursday was facing acute anger from a rival, China, and one of its closest allies, France, over a pact that will help Australia develop nuclear-powered submarines.
The nuclear deal, which also includes the United Kingdom, was announced by President Biden on Wednesday and immediately threatened to aggravate tensions with Beijing and potentially damage an improving relationship with Paris.
It gives Australia U.S. technology to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, which are stealthier, have longer and deeper range and are more sophisticated than conventional subs. The agreement was seen as a major step in Biden’s vow to form a grand alliance to curb China’s economic and military influence in the Indo-Pacific region. U.S. tensions with China are on the rise, and containing Beijing is a top Biden administration foreign policy priority.
Beijing on Thursday expressed predictable outrage at the deal, criticizing it for embracing a cold-war mentality that will stoke an arms race, damage international nonproliferation efforts and threaten regional peace and stability.
The United States and Britain “are using nuclear exports for geopolitical gaming tools and applying double standards which is extremely irresponsible,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
Read Full Story
LA Times Rating
Discover more from News Facts Network
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
