US, UK and Australia Make New Pact

President Biden recently announce d a new security partnership with the UK, the US and Australia called AUKUS. The partnership will focus on challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. The challenges include China's increased military presence in the region and increased pressure against Taiwan to keep democracy in the region. Anonymous White House sources say that the agreement is meant to counter the influence of China in the region. However, the leaders of the three countries have not mentioned this. 

The US and UK plan to help Australia build a nuclear submarine fleet and give them other technology. This is very significant because the US has only ever shared nuclear submarine technology with Great Britain. The US and UK will gain increased military influence in the Indo-Pacific region and Australia will gain this rare technology. 

​This partnership also means the cancellation of a $90 billion dollar contract between Australia and France. This contract was signed in 2016. French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, calls AUKUS a “stab in the back” after they found out about the pact a few hours before the announcement. The French pact had planned to give Australia non-nuclear submarines that were slower and had a shorter battery life. Australia put 2.4 Billion dollars into the agreement before cancelling. Australia is expected to pay hundreds of millions more of Euros for cancelling the agreement.
 
Sources: 
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/15/1037542072/united-states-united-kingdom-and-australia-to-form-new-security-alliance
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58659627
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AUKU

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