KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The newly established security partnership among Australia, Britain and the United States, also known as AUKUS, can destabilize the Asia-Pacific region by potentially fueling an arms race and nuclear proliferation, an expert has said.
Coming at a time when the world is still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the trilateral arrangement also goes against the common aspiration for cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region to combat the pandemic and seek an economic recovery, Ong Tee Keat, chairman of the Center for New Inclusive Asia, a Malaysia-based think tank, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
The inception of such a security partnership as AUKUS is "indeed out of sync with the prevailing regional needs that could only be well met through multilateral cooperation," said Ong.
Ong said it is unfortunate that the United States and its allies are raising regional tensions through militarization instead of embarking on multilateralism, economic cooperation and recovery in the post-COVID-19 era, he said.
AUKUS also leaves Australia a pawn of the United States, Ong added.
AUKUS, a U.S.-initiated military move to empower Australia to take on China in the Asia-Pacific region, will "inevitably cast a long shadow on the already-strained relations between China and Australia," he said.
While the United States had encouraged tensions between Australia and China, U.S. exporters were quick to exploit the situation by filling in the void left by Australian imports into the Chinese market, not only profiting from the tensions but locking out its own ally from the market, he added.
"The U.S.-centric initiative would certainly have the U.S. interest as the top priority and overriding concern. The AUKUS is no exception," Ong said.
He warned that tensions among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would also be raised, threatening the group's commitment to peace and neutrality through its declaration of "The Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality" in 1971.
However, the declaration has not deterred the United States from forging military partnerships in the region, said Ong, noting that no regional bloc has ever managed to "make the United States safe for the region." Enditem
