(Reuters) – The U.S., Britain and Australia will begin talks on bringing new members into their AUKUS security pact as Washington pushes for Japan to be involved as a deterrent against China, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
Citing people familiar with the situation, the newspaper said AUKUS defence ministers will announce on Monday that they will launch talks related to “pillar two” of the pact, which commits the members to jointly developing quantum computing, undersea, hypersonic, artificial intelligence and cyber technology.
They are not considering expanding the first pillar, which is designed to deliver nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia, the FT said.
AUKUS, unveiled by the three countries in 2023, is part of their efforts to push back against China’s growing power in the Indo-Pacific region. China has called the AUKUS pact dangerous and warned it could spur a regional arms race.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday the AUKUS submarine project could help deter any Chinese move against Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing claims as part of China.
President Joe Biden has sought to step up partnerships with U.S. allies in Asia, including Japan and the Philippines, amid China’s historic military build-up and its growing territorial assertiveness.
Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington on Wednesday and hold a trilateral summit, adding Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, on Thursday.
(Reporting by Shreya Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)
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