Source: Global Information Broadcasting
The cooperation between the US, Britain and Australia, which is highly vigilant in the world, has taken another dangerous step.
Some Western officials recently revealed to the US media that due to the increasingly urgent "strategic threat", the US government is considering the construction of the first nuclear-powered submarines for Australia by the United States itself in the mid-30s to speed up the process of obtaining such sensitive weapons.
At the same time, the United States will make Australia capable of building nuclear submarines at home through "long-term efforts".
Screenshot of the Wall Street Journal report
The Sydney Morning Herald also confirmed from another perspective that Australia's Albanis government is considering "buying" the first nuclear submarines from the United States "by the middle of the next decade."
Sydney Morning Herald: Although Australia will have the capability to build nuclear submarines by 2036 under the US-UK-Australia trilateral agreement, there has been growing concern lately that this vision may not be realized until after 2040.
Don't have the money to "rush work" to build boats?
Last September, the leaders of the United States, Britain, and Australia reached the so-called Trilateral Security Partnership Agreement (the "Okus" agreement). At the heart of it, the United States and Britain will help Australia build a fleet of nuclear submarines.
Since then, the movements of the three countries have continued.
At present, senior officials of the United States, Britain and Australia have discussed the provisional plan of the United States to build boats for Australia in advance, but did not provide implementation details.
Although the plan has not yet been officially approved by the three parties, signs of "speeding up" have already appeared: a number of Australian personnel have been sent to the United States and Britain to receive technical training in nuclear submarine operations.
Bloomberg: As the implementation of the nuclear submarine agreement progresses, the UK will train nuclear submarine operators for Australia.
Brent Sadler, a former U.S. Navy officer who now works at the Heritage Foundation, said the three countries "have made limited progress in sharing sensitive naval nuclear power technology information and inviting Australian naval personnel to study in the United States and Britain."
He also pointed out that if the Australian side is to deploy the first nuclear submarines in the mid-30s, more needs to be done, and the most important thing is to "fund the expansion of the US nuclear submarine construction capabilities."
Brent Sadler
The problem of funding is precisely one of the biggest bottlenecks facing the "Okus" plan.
Given the lack of spare shipbuilding capabilities in both the United States and Britain, they have been racking their brains on how to help Australia acquire nuclear submarines as soon as possible.
To that end, the U.S. needs at least a billion dollars to expand submarine-building capabilities, and that money is expected to be largely "contributed" by Australia.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute website: The cost of the "Ocus" agreement will be jaw-dropping. Building only the 12 nuclear submarines that the Australian side hopes to acquire will cost $90 billion, and the cost of operating them is even more.
If there is no money, it is necessary to "rush to work" to build boats, and there is no other explanation except for the drive of the so-called "great power competition" obsession of the United States.
In this regard, Bruce Hagrid, a former Australian diplomat and political commentator, criticized and pointed out that from any point of view, the "Ocus" agreement looks like a scam by the US mastermind, blindly followed by the United Kingdom, and finally let Australia act as a "pawn".
Hagrid bluntly said that the transfer of nuclear submarine technology is just a cover, in essence to cover up the fact that the United States wants to directly deploy nuclear submarines in Australia. If the Australian side continues to act obstinately, it will inevitably violate the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and at the same time infringe on its sovereignty.
Bruce Hagrid
"The trouble with 'Okus' has just begun"
What Hagrid said reflects the international community's general view of US-British-Australian nuclear submarine cooperation.
In recent years, in order to safeguard its global hegemony, the United States has not only vigorously carried out nuclear upgrading and nuclear military expansion behind closed doors, but has also been vigorously deploying nuclear weapons by its allies in the strategically sensitive areas of Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and has braved the world's great disobedience to openly engage in nuclear proliferation in order to provoke the Cold War-style camp to confront it.
Since the "Okus" agreement was reached last September, it has been widely questioned, opposed and condemned by the international community.
The reason is obvious: US-British-Australian nuclear submarine cooperation violates the aims and purposes of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), sets a bad precedent for NPT nuclear-weapon States parties to export nuclear materials and technology to non-nuclear-weapon States, and poses a serious risk of nuclear proliferation.
According to a global online poll conducted by China International Television (CGTN) recently, more than 70% of global netizens believe that the US and Britain's assistance to Australia in building nuclear-powered submarines and transferring nuclear materials undermine international nuclear non-proliferation principles.
Nuclear proliferation is accompanied by heightened regional tensions and stimulated a regional arms race.
From March to September this year, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at the initiative of China, decided for four consecutive times by consensus to set a separate formal agenda item dedicated to "issues affecting all aspects of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, such as the transfer of nuclear material and its safeguards related to US-UK-Australia nuclear submarine cooperation."
With the imminent holding of the 66th International Atomic Energy Agency General Assembly and the First Committee Meeting of the General Assembly on nuclear proliferation, the international community's concern and opposition to US-British-Australian nuclear submarine cooperation is also heating up.
It is also worth vigilance that the United States, as nuclear-armed countries, on the one hand, impose strict restrictions and suppression on the nuclear programs of Iran and other countries; On the other hand, it supports Australia to develop military nuclear technology, and the implementation of the "Okus" agreement will lead to direct exports of weapons-grade high enrichment of uranium to Australia exceeding 90%, far exceeding the 3.67% red line set for Iran.
Screenshot of the website of the Loy Institute in Australia
The U.S. National Interest magazine pointed out that the "Ocus" agreement exposed Washington's consistent double standards, once again showing that the United States "can easily change the nuclear non-proliferation regime to suit its own preferences."
The article warns that the US-UK-Australia nuclear submarine cooperation has set a dangerous precedent that will weaken the deterrent power of the IAEA's monitoring safeguards and further increase the possibility of nuclear proliferation.
Screenshot of a report by National Interest magazine
According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the Okus agreement, while "making some progress", still faces significant challenges. The need for a deal is not universally recognized, which has led to confusion among regional allies and partners and raised concerns that the agreement could destabilize the region.
Screenshot of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute website report
The Sydney Morning Herald is even more blunt, saying that a year later, the situation of the "Okus" agreement has become more and more embarrassing. Despite the upheavals in the leadership of the three countries, the three countries are still determined to cooperate with nuclear submarines. This means that whatever the final plan is, approving it will be a politically charged act.
In this sense, "the trouble with 'Okus' has only just begun".
Screenshot of the Sydney Morning Herald report (caption: Among the leaders of the United States, Britain, and Australia who signed the "Okus" agreement, only US President Joe Biden is still in power)
Source丨Global Information Broadcasting "Global Deep Observation"
Planning丨Wang Jian
Reporter 丨 Liu Yun
Editor丨Lin Wei
Sign the trial 丨 Wang Jian
Executive Producer丨Guan Juanjuan