France isn’t the only country upset about a new security pact between the U.S., U.K. and Australia: Some Southeast Asian nations are also worried the partnership could provoke China and spur a regional arms race.
The so-called AUKUS partnership, which will help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, prompted China last week to warn of an arms race in a region riven by maritime territorial disputes. Since then, two key members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — Indonesia and Malaysia — have voiced similar concerns.
That wariness in ASEAN is significant, particularly as both President Joe Biden and Australian leader Scott Morrison last week touted the arrangement as necessary for Indo-Pacific stability and mentioned a desire to work with the 10-nation bloc of Southeast Asian nations. Indonesia and Malaysia both have had run-ins with Chinese ships in the South China Sea, an expansive area where Beijing has made vast claims to hydrocarbon and fishing resources.
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