The issue with this submarine deal is that it is not just a nuclear submarine deal. It is an aggressive Anglo-Saxon alliance between the UK, Australia and the US in the Indo-Pacific region against China.
@JoeBiden said in Geneva he didn't want a cold war.
This move starts one.
@JoeBiden said in Geneva he didn't want a cold war.
This move starts one.
https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1440724644466622472
France is also far from the only nation annoyed, regardless of what some commentators are saying. EU President @vonderleyen was clear in her view. The Germans are about to have an election, and will express themselves later. But NZ was also pretty annoyed.
@vonderleyen NZ, promptly informed Australia that its nuclear submarines would be equally unwelcome in NZ as America's are.
And this is not because of trading links with China, it is because NZ is opposed to both nuclear weapons and navies.
And this is not because of trading links with China, it is because NZ is opposed to both nuclear weapons and navies.
@vonderleyen I don't know if NZ and Canada were consulted about this deal. But if not they probably are both pretty annoyed as they are both part of the five-eyes alliance with the three partners to this new deal.
@vonderleyen But compared to the US and UK's NATO partners this Pacific theatre stuff is small beer. NATO has been the US's partner, particularly in Afghanistan but also in numerous other theatres of conflict for decades.
@vonderleyen It would justifiably expect to be consulted before the U.S. decided to start a cold war, against what @JoeBiden explicitly said when he was visiting Europe in the summer.
What the U.S. has done is both embarrassing to Europe, and reckless.
What the U.S. has done is both embarrassing to Europe, and reckless.
As a New Zealander I would be all for leaving five eyes in protest. As @antonioguterres told @FareedZakaria on Sunday now - as we face the twin threats of Covid and Climate and require global cooperation - is not the time to be ramping up wasteful military expenditure.
@antonioguterres @FareedZakaria I am also appalled by recent U.S. bellicose reactionary neo-colonial actions in Africa, both in Guinea and in Ethiopia.
The EU is however equally complicit in aggravating the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Northern Ethiopia.
The EU is however equally complicit in aggravating the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Northern Ethiopia.
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