Thread by @FinancialTimes

China has hit out at Australia, the UK and US for playing ‘geopolitical games’ after they struck a new security pact to let Australia acquire eight nuclear-powered submarines. France is also upset by the deal.

Here’s what you need to know 👇 ft.com/content/6c1375…

'The creation of AUKUS fills the most important gap in the security web of the entire western Pacific,' said one Taiwanese national security official ft.com/content/6c1375…

Taiwan and Japan have hailed the Australia, UK and US security pact for its potential to offset an increasingly assertive China. But China’s foreign ministry spokesperson has accused the three countries of double standards ft.com/content/6c1375…

The French government has also reacted to the deal with fury, but for different reasons.

The Australian government has cancelled a $90bn programme to acquire 12 conventionally powered submarines from France ft.com/content/6c1375…

What will be the implications of Australia ditching its plan to acquire submarines from France in favour of a different deal with the US and the UK?

And how will the new security pact affect these countries’ relationship with China?

Read more here: ft.com/content/7e2daf…

Australia's pact with the US and the UK has not only torpedoed the multibillion-dollar French deal, but is another brutal wake-up call for the EU about its waning influence in the post-cold war world ft.com/content/6b7ec8…

What does a Biden presidency mean for China?

At the end of 2020, the FT's global China editor @JKynge and US national editor @EdwardGLuce sat down to discuss the changing relationship between the world's two superpowers ft.com/content/6c1375…