Aukus risks being just ‘a label’ if it fails to curb China’s regional ‘adventurism’

The bloc could soon show results in areas such as autonomous underwater vehicles and quantum computing-based defence, analysts say

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US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and then British PM Rishi Sunak at a naval facility in San Diego last year. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:00am, 17 Sep 2024

The three defence partners of Aukus must soon deliver on their goals to address what analysts say are common security concerns over China’s “adventurism in the region”, warning that the bloc risks being “nothing more than a label” if it fails to show its capabilities to deter Beijing.

Analysts say cooperation between Australia, the UK and the US in advanced technologies could soon bear fruit, including the pairing of crewed submarines with autonomous underwater vehicles and the use of quantum computing technologies.

The urgency to produce results would benefit researchers, start-ups as well as other enterprises involved in the defence pact, they add.

Nishank Motwani, a senior defence and security analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said Aukus must focus on delivering on these goals promptly to show how the three allies could work together to address their collective security challenge over China.

Pointing out that the central purpose of Aukus was to deter Beijing from engaging in armed conflict, Motwani said credible deterrence was needed to “complicate China’s decision-making calculus to use force by making the risk of failure too high”.

“Given the stakes, it is imperative for Aukus to contribute to deterrence,” he said, adding that the grouping would otherwise “risk being nothing more than a label”.