AUKUS

NZ ready to sign new cooperation deal with NATO, as country rethinks security in face of regional tensions and growing Chinese military might.

American, Australian, and British defence chiefs touted high-tech cooperation on deep space radar, AI and quantum computing systems.

Australia’s prime minister will visit China in early November to meet President Xi Jinping, Canberra confirmed Sunday.

Australia proposed tougher restrictions on former defense military personnel who want to train foreign militaries.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said NZ would be welcome to engage in the landmark pact counterbalancing China’s rise in the Pacific.

China’s state-run Global Times had a field day on Wednesday, mocking President Joe Biden for canceling his trips to Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Two suspected Chinese spies gave a Sydney businessman envelopes of cash for information, prosecutors told a court on Monday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry aggressively condemned Australia on Tuesday for announcing an agreement, alongside America and the United Kingdom, to upgrade its submarine fleet with major purchases of American nuclear-powered submarines, beginning in the early 2030s.

Australian officials said AUKUS will cost up to $245 billion and create 20,000 jobs. It comes as China rapidly builds up its own military.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) on Thursday launched a project called the Critical Technology Tracker, which collects and visualizes data representing worldwide progress on “crucial technology fields spanning defense, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, advanced materials and key quantum technology areas.”

China publicly warned Australia on Wednesday against being an “enthusiastic bandwagoner of the U.S. strategy” in the contentious Indo-Pacific region after Foreign Minister Penny Wong concluded her visit to Beijing.

Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid a visit to Indonesia on Monday, barely two weeks after his election.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin held a summit with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which Putin is technically banned from, on Friday.

Australia is ditching its entire fleet of European-made Taipan battlefield helicopters for 40 Sikorsky Black Hawks and 12 Seahawks from the United States. Canberra confirmed Friday the $U.S.10 billion switch will be made as quickly as possible.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attacked the credibility of French President Emmanuel Macron as a newspaper quoted a text message that suggested France anticipated “bad news” about a now-scuttled submarine deal.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison denied that he lied to French President Emmanuel Macron while secretly negotiating a submarine deal with the United States and Britain, an accusation that has escalated a rift over Australia’s surprise cancellation of a French deal.

Australia and Britain on Thursday defended their nuclear submarine deal with the U.S. amid concerns it could escalate tensions.

In an op-ed published by Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen warned that China’s increasingly aggressive behavior toward her island could be the prelude to an invasion that would be “catastrophic for regional peace and the democratic alliance system.”

A round of free trade talks between the European Union and Australia has been postponed by one month, EU and Australian officials said Friday.

Labour Party members have voted to condemn the new anglosphere Pacific defence alliance, claiming it “undermines world peace”.

Emmanuel Macron is said to be willing to trade control of France’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council to Brussels for an EU Army.

France urged its European Union partners to consider whether to delay negotiations on the bloc´s future trade agreement with Australia.

North Korea responded to the announcement of the AUKUS strategic alliance on Monday by calling it “irresponsible” and warning it could launch a “nuclear arms race.”

France has pulled out of a planned defence summit with Britain amid an ongoing row between Paris, London, Canberra, and Washington D.C. over submarines.

The French government is seething over Australia’s decision to drop a troubled multi-billion French submarine deal in favour of collaboration with Britain and America, describing it as “treason”. 

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday ordered the recall of France’s ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne, to protest the Biden administration’s deal to provide nuclear submarines to Australia without French participation.

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has praised the foundation of the new British, American, and Australian defence and security alliance, calling it a “big moment for the Anglosphere”.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision on Wednesday to help Australia acquire U.S. nuclear-powered submarines and thus abandon a previous agreement with Paris to purchase $40 billion worth of French-designed submarines was “a stab in the back,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday.

Beijing on Thursday denounced the new “AUKUS” military pact announced by Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. Wednesday, describing the alliance — which aims to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region — as “extremely irresponsible” and warning it “seriously undermines regional peace.”