French government officials are not happy about U.S. president Joe Biden’s decision to share nuclear-powered submarine technology with Australia. Biden’s plan will also end a $90 billion deal that Australia had with France for conventional submarines.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s Foreign minister, considers the move a betrayal of trust.
“This brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me a lot of what Mr. Trump used to do,” he told Franceinfo radio on Thursday. “This isn’t done between allies.”
He also said that Australia will need to clarify how they intend to break their contract with France.
Biden’s plan is part of a new defense partnership between three English-speaking maritime democracies, the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia. The new partnership is called AUKUS and intends to share nuclear submarine propulsion technology with the Australian navy so their submarines can travel faster, farther and with more stealth.
“I want to be exceedingly clear about this: We’re not talking about nuclear armed submarines,” Biden said. “These are conventionally armed submarines that are powered by nuclear reactors.”
NPR reports that the only other time the U.S. has shared this technology was in 1958 with Great Britain.
Even though none of the AUKUS leaders have mentioned China in regard to their new plans, experts believe that their real purpose is to counter China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
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