London. March 19. INTERFAX - The Australian authorities did not promise the United States to support them in the event of a military conflict around Taiwan in exchange for receiving nuclear submarines (submarines) as part of the AUKUS partnership, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told ABC television on Sunday.
"Of course, the answer is no. Definitely not. And there was no talk of such a thing," he said in response to a question whether Australia would receive three Virginia-class submarines on condition of coming to Washington's aid in the event of a conflict with China over Taiwan.
He assured that the Australian authorities will solely dispose of these submarines after their deliveries in the early 2030s.
The minister also said that Australia needs submarines to protect key maritime trade routes. According to him, the main routes that connect the country with Japan and South Korea, which are among the top five trade partners of Canberra, run through the South China Sea. He said that China is building artificial islands in this sea in violation of UN conventions.
At the same time, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell expressed the opinion that the AUKUS partnership should not prevent consultations between Canberra and Beijing on the resumption of trade in a number of goods. Later, Farrell is scheduled to go to China for talks.
The Taiwan issue arose in 1949, when the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, and part of the Chinese Kuomintang Party settled on the island of Taiwan, calling the island the Republic of China on Taiwan. Beijing insists on the "one China principle", according to which both the PRC and the Republic of China on Taiwan cannot be recognized at the same time. At the same time, almost all major states have unofficial cultural and economic offices of Taipei.
Earlier, the United States, Great Britain and Australia unveiled a decades-long project for the supply of nuclear submarines to Canberra. The United States will sell three to five Virginia-class submarines to Australia starting in 2032. The next stage of the plan provides for the construction by Australia and the UK of the SSN Aukus submarine, which will be a modified version of the next-generation SSN(R) submarine that the UK has already designed. As expected, the first boats will enter service no earlier than in two decades.
