Australia warns it will BLOCK China's bid to join global trading pact - after Beijing exploded at new nuclear submarine deal and AUKUS alliance

China has applied to join global trading pact with Australia already a member

Aus Trade Minister said China would need to prove 'track record of compliance'

China's application comes after Australia announced historic AUKUS deal

For the first time in its history, Australia will build nuclear powered submarines


By Eliza Mcphee For Daily Mail Australia

17 September 2021

Australia has threatened to block China's bid to join a global trading pact as tensions continue to worsen between the two nations.

China applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on Thursday.

The pact has 11 members, including Australia, New Zealand and Japan, which will all have to unanimously agree before China can join.

However, due to frictions between the Asian nation and Australia, Scott Morrisons' government has made it clear China's bid won't be approved until they call off strikes on barley and wine exports.

Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan said China would need to prove its 'track ­record of compliance' with members of the pact and resume high-level communication with the Morrison government.

'CPTPP parties would also want to be confident that an ­accession candidate would fully implement its commitments under the agreement in good faith,' Mr Tehan told The Weekend Australian.

'As we have conveyed to China, these are important matters which require ministerial engagement.'

Beijing's strike on Australian trade was estimated to be affecting $20billion worth of exports and put a large strain on the relationship between the two countries.

In the trade pact, New Zealand handles the requests for new members while Singapore, Japan and Australia assess potential new additions.

Wang Huiyao, who is the president of the Centre for China and Globalisation, said accepting China's approval could relive tensions between Canberra and Beijing.

'It will also help to balance Australia's relation with China and US, given Australia has just joined a regional defence framework with the US,' Dr Wang said.

The timing of China's application has also been called into question as it came just hours after Mr Morrison announced the historic AUKUS deal.

Australia, the US, and Britain on Thursday morning formed a new alliance to beef up security in the Asia Pacific to counter the rising threat of China.

At least eight nuclear-powered submarines are expected to be delivered to Australia under the deal.

'It is the first time this technology has ever been made available to Australia. This is a one-off, as the President in Washington has made very clear. This is a very special arrangement,' Mr Morrison said.

None of the leaders mentioned China by name but the West is increasingly concerned about Beijing's growing assertiveness and huge military build-up.

In response, China's Global Times news website - a mouthpiece for the communist government - published a scathing article and warned of the possibility of a nuclear strike on Australia.

The article cited an anonymous 'senior Chinese military expert' who said Australia would pose a nuclear threat to other countries because the new submarines could potentially be fitted with nuclear weapons provided by the US or UK.

'This would make Australia a potential target for a nuclear strike, because nuclear-armed states like China and Russia are directly facing the threat from Australia's nuclear submarines which serve US strategic demands,' the expert said.

The article warned Mr Morrison's ambition to beef up Australia's military 'could bring destructive consequences' in the event of a nuclear war and said his insistence that Australia does not want nuclear missiles is 'meaningless'.




Why is Australia acquiring nuclear-powered subs?

Why nuclear submarines?

Nuclear submarines are powered by nuclear reactors which produce heat that creates high-pressured steam to spin turbines and power the boat's propeller.

They can run for about 20 years before needing to refuel, meaning food supplies are the only limit on time at sea.

The boats are also very quiet, making it harder for enemies to detect them and can travel at top speed - about 40kmh - for longer than diesel-powered subs.

The first nuclear submarines were put to sea by the United States in the 1950s. They are now also in use by Russia, France, the United Kingdom, China, and India.

A senior US defence official told reporters in Washington DC: 'This will give Australia the capability for their submarines to basically deploy for a longer period, they're quieter, they're much more capable.

'They will allow us to sustain and to improve deterrence across the Indo-Pacific.'

Zack Cooper, a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, said nuclear submarines would hugely boost Australia's military capability.

'They are going to be much, much more capable in the large, expansive ocean that is Australia has to deal with,' he told the ABC.

Will Australia have nuclear weapons?

Scott Morrison made it clear that the nuclear-power submarines will not have nuclear missiles on board.

Australia has never produced nuclear weapons and signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1973 which prevents non-nuclear states which don't already have them from developing nuclear weapons.

Mr Morrison also said the Australia has no plans to build nuclear power stations which are widely used around the world.

'But let me be clear, Australia is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons or establish a civil nuclear capability,' he said.

'And we will continue to meet all our nuclear non-proliferation obligations.'

Why now?

Australia needs to replace its six ageing Collins-class submarines.

In 2016 it signed a deal with French Company Naval Group to build 12 diesel-electric attack subs - but the parties were in dispute over the amount of building that would be done in Australia.

That deal has now been torn up in favour of nuclear powered subs aided by the US and UK who will provide the technology to Australia.

The West is becoming increasingly concerned about the growing assertiveness of China in the Indo-Pacific region where it has made huge territorial claims in the South and East China seas, clashed with Indian troops and repeatedly flown planes over Taiwan.

Mr Morrison wants Australia to have serious defence capability to deter China from encroaching in the Pacific and long-range nuclear submarines are just the ticket.

China has vastly built up its military in the past few years and now possesses six Shang-class nuclear powered attack submarines, equipped with torpedoes and cruise missiles.