If you aren’t worried about Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s longterm plans, you haven’t been paying much attention to what he has been up to. In the South China Sea. In the Middle East. In his growing relations with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Thankfully, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have been paying attention.
On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met in California to demonstrate they are committed to working together to counter aggression across the globe.
Good for them.
If Xi believes the West is in decline, as his rises, he needs to be disabused of that false notion. He needs to be shown that Western democracies, though sometimes suffering from internal turmoil of their own making, can stand tall, and stand together, when the going gets tough.
The three nations that got together in San Diego on Monday established a security arrangement in 2021 named AUKUS, for Australia, the U.K. and U.S.
Xi is monitoring the war in Ukraine that Putin began a bit more than a year ago. What he has seen has doubtless worried him. Instead of splitting the Western alliance, which was the Russian despot’s desire, Putin’s war has strengthened it.
While standing together is important, the alliance among the U.S., the U.K. and Australia must be based on more than words. Naval power is also crucial.
The U.S. will sell Australia five nuclear-powered submarines in the coming decade, with plans for production of future subs for our ally down under to shift to Britain and Australia. That vessel would be a new design featuring American parts.
There could well come the day — and perhaps sooner rather than later — when Xi decides to launch an attack meant to bring Taiwan under Chinese control. If there are clear signs the Western alliance will stand solidly behind the island democracy, the Chinese totalitarian leader would need to think twice about moving against Taiwan.
Though U.S. officials didn’t explicitly state at their San Diego gathering that they had China on their minds, there’s little doubt that Xi’s ambitions, more than anything else, are behind the trilateral show of unity.
— Tribune News Service
