SYDNEY (London Post with Reuters) By Dr. Majid Khan – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the Canberra embassy at a meeting in Suva on Thursday that the country’s $245 billion nuclear submarine program was a non-proliferation commitment to nuclear weapons.
Australia has nuclear-free zone agreements with her 12 countries in the South Pacific, including Fiji, making the region highly sensitive to nuclear weapons following nuclear tests by the United States and France.
The strategically located region has been the focus of growing tensions between the United States and China over Beijing’s ambitions to strengthen its security presence.
China this month renewed diplomatic pressure on Pacific island nations to cooperate with China on security issues.
A day after details of the AUKUS submarine program were announced with US and British leaders in San Diego, Albanese met with Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitibuni Labuka to discuss security in the region. In a statement, the Fiji government said: “Albanians are steadfast in their support as our two countries work together to recover from the pandemic, build defense and security, build economic cooperation, tackle climate change, and protect our oceans and environment. I gave it to you,” he praised.
Australian defense officials say a fleet of nuclear submarines is needed as a deterrent to China’s naval build-up.
China says AUKUS violates the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Australia opposes. Australia said on Tuesday that its submarines would not carry nuclear weapons.
China’s special envoy for the Pacific Islands, Qianbo, called on subregional groups in Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands this month to help with China’s security training and assistance role, according to a statement by the Melanesian Spearhead Group. rice field. Over the past two weeks, Qian has visited Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Federated States of Micronesia. In a March 10 statement, senior officials from the Melanesia Spearhead Group (MSG), an intergovernmental organization of the Independence Party of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, pledged security assistance, including training and assistance.
“My members are adamant that no one chooses friends or foes for them,” said MSG Executive Director Leonard Louma.
Graeme Smith, a Pacific expert at the Australian National University, said Australia was concerned by the group’s statements.The group, while less powerful than the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum, It is important for Melanesian countries.
It is also likely that China will step up criticism of AUKUS for violating the Pacific Nuclear Free Treaty in its diplomacy with the Pacific islands, he said. New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will visit Fiji on Wednesday, according to the US embassy in Auckland, while a US delegation led by White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell will visit the Pacific island nations in the coming days.
