SYDNEY (Dr. Majid Khan/AP)Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating said that Australia’s plan to buy nuclear submarines from the United States to modernize its fleet “must be the worst deal ever”.
Keating said at his club’s event in the National Press that submarines would not serve military purposes.
“The only way China can threaten or attack Australia is on land, which means they are bringing a fleet of warships with a huge army to garrison us,” Key said. Ting said, “That’s impossible for the Chinese.”
He added that Australia would sink such a Chinese armada with planes and missiles.
“The idea is that we need American submarines to protect us,” said Keating. “Buy eight, there are three in the ocean. Three will protect us from Chinese power. Really? I mean the crap of it.”
The Australian deal, announced Monday in San Diego by US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, comes amid growing concerns over China’s military buildup and influence in the Indo-Pacific. was done. Biden emphasized that submarines will not carry nuclear weapons of any kind.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marls said the deal was necessary to counter the largest conventional military build-up in the region since World War II.
“We must take steps to develop the capability to operate nuclear submarines so that we can pass on to our children and grandchildren a much more self-sufficient nation,” Marles said.
China said on Tuesday that the US, Australia and the UK “continue down a wrong and dangerous path for their own geopolitical self-interest”.
China on Wednesday reiterated its opposition, accusing the three countries of “imposing” the approval of the agreement on the International Atomic Energy Agency. “China urges all member states of the (IAEA) to actively promote intergovernmental processes to find solutions to security issues related to nuclear submarine cooperation between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and promote international peace. We ask China to maintain international security,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference.
Keating said he served as Prime Minister for over four years in the 1990s. He was from the same Labor Party as the Albanians.
Keating said the submarine agreement was the worst international decision in more than 100 years of the Labor Party’s failed attempt to introduce conscription during World War I. Keating also teased the cost of the deal, which Australian officials estimated at A$268 billion to A$368 billion ($178 billion to $245 billion) over 30 years. Australian officials say the deal will create 20,000 jobs.
“For $360 billion, you can get eight submarines,” Keating said. “This must be the worst deal ever.”
At a press club event, Keating was asked whether ties to China influenced his views.
He said he had no commercial interests in China and left the bank’s board five years ago. “I was on the board of the Development Bank of China for 13 years and as chairman for 10 years,” Keating said, adding that his commission, or commission, was $5,000 a year.
Keating also lashed out at some journalists at the event, saying one reporter’s question was “too stupid and hardly worth answering” and another about China’s perceived threat to Australia. “You should bow your head in shame,” he said in a recent report in his newspaper.
“For the record, Mr. Keating, we are very proud of our journalism and believe it has made an important contribution to the national debate,” said Matthew, a second journalist. Knott replied.
