Aukus: France recalls envoys amid security pact row
France has said it is recalling its ambassadors in the US and Australia for consultations, in protest at a security deal which also includes the UK.
The French foreign minister said the "exceptional decision" was justified by the situation's "exceptional gravity".
The alliance, known as Aukus, will see Australia being given the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines.
The move angered France as it scuppered a multibillion-dollar deal it had signed with Australia.
The agreement is widely seen as an effort to counter China's influence in the contested South China Sea. It was announced on Wednesday by US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.
The French foreign minister said the "exceptional decision" was justified by the situation's "exceptional gravity".
The alliance, known as Aukus, will see Australia being given the technology to build nuclear-powered submarines.
The move angered France as it scuppered a multibillion-dollar deal it had signed with Australia.
The agreement is widely seen as an effort to counter China's influence in the contested South China Sea. It was announced on Wednesday by US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.
France was informed of the alliance only hours before the public announcement was made.
In a statement late on Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who had described the pact as a "stab in back", said the ambassadors were being recalled at the request of President Emmanuel Macron.
The deal "constitute[s] unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners whose consequences directly affect the vision we have of our alliances, of our partnerships and of the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe," Mr Le Drian said.
A White House official said the Biden administration regretted the move and would be engaged with France in the coming days to resolve their differences.
Speaking in Washington, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she understood the "disappointment" in France and hoped to work with the country to ensure it understood "the value we place on the bilateral relationship".
A recall of ambassadors is highly unusual between allies, and it is believed to be the first time France has recalled envoys from the two countries. French diplomats in Washington had already cancelled a gala to celebrate ties between the US and France which was scheduled for Friday.
In a statement late on Friday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who had described the pact as a "stab in back", said the ambassadors were being recalled at the request of President Emmanuel Macron.
The deal "constitute[s] unacceptable behaviour between allies and partners whose consequences directly affect the vision we have of our alliances, of our partnerships and of the importance of the Indo-Pacific for Europe," Mr Le Drian said.
A White House official said the Biden administration regretted the move and would be engaged with France in the coming days to resolve their differences.
Speaking in Washington, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she understood the "disappointment" in France and hoped to work with the country to ensure it understood "the value we place on the bilateral relationship".
A recall of ambassadors is highly unusual between allies, and it is believed to be the first time France has recalled envoys from the two countries. French diplomats in Washington had already cancelled a gala to celebrate ties between the US and France which was scheduled for Friday.
Fury from America's oldest ally
Paris was blindsided by Australia's move. That was an economic hit.
But French officials were even more incensed that they only heard about the arrangement just hours before the public announcement, and that it was part of a new security agreement involving three countries including the UK - also a complete surprise, they said.
France's decision to recall its ambassadors is probably unprecedented. The country is America's "oldest ally," as a White House official noted. He said Washington would be engaged with France in the coming days to resolve their differences.
But this looks at the very least like an embarrassing misjudgement by an administration that has promised to work closely with allies.
The pact means Australia will become just the seventh nation in the world to operate nuclear-powered submarines. It will also see the allies share cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and other undersea technologies.
The announcement ended a deal worth $37bn (£27bn) that France had signed with Australia in 2016 to build 12 conventional submarines. China meanwhile accused the three powers involved in the pact of having a "Cold War mentality".
The beginning of the final nailing of European centric with the WASP (white Anglo-Saxon Christian) pact!
ReplyDeleteNATO would be history within the next 5yr.
5eye nation pact would turns 3eye!
Wooopi… new order for the world.
Mmmm… what would those Yankee doodle lovers say now?
WASP (white Anglo-Saxon PROTESTANT - and eff the papist Catholics)
DeleteFACT CHECK:
Delete500 yo Bullyland is more multi-racial and multi-cultural than most countries. They had a black President & Kennedy was a Catholic. Biden too is a practicing Catholic.
No, WASP does not apply any more.
When will 5000 yo Bullyland have a Muslim Uyghur Leader?
You have forgotten your history. China also had minorities ruled the country. The Yuan Dynasty by the Mongolian and the Qing Dynasty that lasted for 300 years. Just so you know, China also had woman Empress long before the rest of the world had women leaders.
DeleteMalay-sia must sapot AUKUS, for Check and Balance.
ReplyDeleteLike it or not the Southern Seas is oredy nuklear. 5000 yo Bullyland has nuklear submarines (weapons mind you, not only powered) in Southern Hainan Island, jaga the entire Southern Seas.
Why worry about AUKUS? The Oz subs only use conventional weapons, they won't even be ready for another decade or more, and they are based 10,000 km away in South Australia.
QUOTE
Yulin Naval Base is a naval base for nuclear submarines along the southern coast of Hainan Island, China. This underground base has been reported by several intelligence agencies, especially Indian agencies. The images collected by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) in February 2008 shows that China constructed a large scale underground base for its naval for its naval forces. In August 2020, satellite imagery from Planet Labs appeared to show a Shang-class submarine entering the underground base.
The caverns are capable of hiding up to 20 nuclear submarines based on reconnaissance satellites data collected. The harbor houses nuclear ballistic missile submarines and is large enough to accommodate aircraft carriers. The US Department of Defense estimated that China would have five Type 094 nuclear submarines operational by 2010 with each capable of carrying 12 JL-2 intercontinental ballistic missiles. Two 950 metre piers and three smaller ones would be enough to accommodate two carrier strike groups or amphibious assault ships.
The submarine base is located at the point in Chinese territory that is closest to the continental shelf. It is roughly 50 nautical miles (93 km) from the base to the 200 meter isobath. It is 150 nautical miles (280 km) to the closest of the disputed Paracel Islands or the city of Da Nang, Vietnam. Speculation has been raised that the base is intended to be expanded to include future capability for aircraft carrier groups.
The submarine base is only a few miles from the city of Sanya...
UNQUOTE
"... are based 10,000 km away in South Australia. QUOTE Yulin Naval Base is a naval base for nuclear submarines along the southern coast of Hainan Island, China ..."
DeleteWonder who is in whose territory???
Dat’s right.
Delete5000 yo Bully has no right to protest what Oz want to build in their territory 10,000 km away.
Did Oz protest when 5000 Bully built Yulin or all those nuclear submarines?
The open South China Sea is nobody's territory.
DeleteThat is one of The Key disagreements with the People's Republic of China, which is claiming the right to obstruct other countries from using the South China Sea.
Who else?
DeleteA typically blurred fart from a led-by-the-western-propagandas know-nothing c&p mfer!
OK, so OZ won't sail through the Taiwan Straits or the South China Sea?
DeleteJapan also building islands why no big fuss?
Deletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/05/20/the-japanese-islet-of-okinotori-is-the-size-of-a-tokyo-bedroom-but-the-basis-of-a-big-claim/
Because Peter Goers said :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSUDlUl6Fdc
Dei, we all know you are a fanboy of the People's Republuc of China.
DeleteOZ has every right to innocent passage through Taiwan Straits or the South China Sea.
nuclear powered warship in an "innocent passage"?, wakakaka
DeleteThe BIG difference is
DeleteOkinotori is part of a chain of islands that has been ruled by Ryukyu Kings for hundreds of years, and the larger islands in the chain are inhabited by Ryukyu natives -Japanese today.
Nobody outside of the People's Republic of China and their brainless fanboys recognises China's sovereignty over Mischief Reef... very aptly named mischief by PRC.
Wakakaka...Yup, exactly the same innocent passage that People's Republic of China nuclear powered submarines exercise when they pass through the Straits of Malacca on either the Indonesian or Malaysian side.
DeleteOf course, People's Republic of China fanboys wouldn't understand the principle.
The Ryukyu islands were parceled to Japan by Roosevelt after twisting the arm of Chiang Kai-shek despite the formal request of the ex-ruler of Liukiu (流求國) protest.
DeleteThe ancient Liukiu (流求國) had a strong tie with China long before the Japanese discovered its existence.
Ryukyu natives r not Japanese!
Wakakakakaka…
Know nothing fart of the etymological name of Mischief Reef!
Mischief Reef was given by pommie sailor. The original Chinese name is 美济礁. Many fishing folks from Hainan have a localised names of 双门 or 双沙.
"...... understand the principle,"
DeleteYou are really a brainwashed western/US worshipper totally contaminated with lies that everything China is evil. It is not surprising, to you a revised news 20 years later is more credible than the timely news written there and then, collaborated by many different parties.
Taiwan Xinjiang Tibet Inner Mongolia have been ruled by China and will be (Taiwan) and is now ruled by China. Ryukyu Kings were right and China was wrong?
https://www.ceps.eu/ceps-publications/the-eu-china-comprehensive-agreement-on-investment/
ReplyDeleteEU did NOT consult USA on the EU-China trade pact.
In fact France and Germany bluntly told the Yanks off at the time ( admittedly Trump era) they have no right to interfere in EU-China matters.
So ? It's fair...They are even now....Biden gave France 4 hours advance notice of the submarine pact..
EU-China trade pact versus AUKUS war pact
DeleteYup, given it is a DEFENCE Pact, France and EU Have even less than zero right to interfere.
DeleteIf it's a DEFENCE Pact San nuclear weapons, then France and EU have zero right to interfere.
DeleteIf nuclear weapons r involved, then everybody under UN can interfere!
Aukus component parties r the signatory of The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
NPT, is an international treaty with an objective to limit the escalation of a nuclear arms race and the technology related to it.
Comprendi, mfer?
Some insight into what to expect in the coming years re : US vs China
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w-mzRhmHng