An agreement on intensive military cooperation and joint action in the Asia-Pacific region has been reached between the United States, Great Britain and Australia. The pact of the three countries caused an avalanche of reactions in the world, and the representatives of the People's Republic of China were the most affected, emphasizing that the agreement of the three countries is extremely irresponsible.

- The Pact of the United States, Great Britain and Australia seriously undermines regional peace and stability and intensifies the arms race. "These countries have shown a Cold War-era mentality, and their leaders are driven by ideological prejudices," said Chinese Foreign Minister Zhao Lijian.

The new partnership was announced at a virtual conference attended by US President Joe Biden and the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Australia, Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison. Although the three leaders did not mention China directly, they emphasized that military co-operation was due to the fact that regional security threats were growing rapidly.

Speaking to the BBC, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said China's defense budget was one of the largest in history.

- China is increasing its navy, and huge growth has been observed in aviation capacity. It is obvious how the Chinese military is actively involved in disputed areas, and our partners in the region want to have the opportunity to oppose it. "Otherwise, the new partnership is not a result of the fact that we want to antagonize relations with any other country," Wallace said.

A region full of tensions

In recent years, official Beijing has been repeatedly accused of raising tensions in the disputed territories of the South China Sea. The Cooperation Agreement between the United States, Britain and Australia, also known as the Aucus, is the most important military alliance between the three nations since World War II.

Aucus will operate independently of the Five-Eye Intelligence Coalition, which includes Canada and New Zealand in addition to the three countries.

"This is a historic opportunity for the three nations, who are like-minded allies and partners, to uphold common values ​​and promote security and prosperity in the Pacific region," the three leaders said in a joint statement.

Many analysts see the pact as a demonstration of force in China.

"The three nations have drawn a line in the sand, launching a counterattack against China's aggressive behavior in the region," said Australian geopolitics expert Guy Buckenstein.

Western countries have long been concerned about the Chinese military building artificial islands in the waters of the South China Sea, and major barriers to international relations have been trade barriers set up by the Chinese government in trade with Australia.

Australian authorities have long enjoyed good and fruitful relations with China, of which they were once the largest trading partner. But good relations have stalled with rising political tensions.

Australia will get nuclear-powered submarines

The cooperation pact envisages intensive exchange of intelligence, assistance in the development of various types of weapons and equipment, fight against cyber-attacks and implementation of advanced security software. However, what could lead to some change in the balance of power on the ground is that Australia will receive US assistance in developing nuclear-powered submarines.

The submarines will be armed with conventional weapons, but will run on nuclear power, which will make the Australian Navy much more competent in its relations with China. This type of submarine is much faster, more lethal and can carry a larger arsenal than those powered by diesel engines.

The deal will also mean that for the first time in 50 years, the United States will share its nuclear submarine technology with another country. The last time the Americans did so was in relations with Britain.

Australia will soon become the seventh nation to have this type of submarine, after the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China and India.

At the same time, the Australians have pledged that in the future they will not develop nuclear weapons, but that only conventional systems will continue to be used in defense capabilities.

Knife in the back of France

The pact between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom also sparked a rift in relations with other allies.

The fact that Australia will build its submarines in cooperation with the United States, that automatically caused the termination of the contract with France, from where 12 submarines with a total value of 31 billion euros were to arrive.

- This is a knife in the back. We have achieved a relationship filled with trust in our relationship with Australia. "But trust has been deceived," said Jean-Yves Le Drian, France's foreign minister.

A cold reaction also came from New Zealand, where they said they would not give permission for the routes of Australia's new submarines in the country's territorial waters. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden confirmed to the public that New Zealand had not been asked to join the newly formed partnership.