Response Correspondent:

American correspondent Lucas Waagmeester: “Strategic military partnerships between countries are not unique. But this is another step in a trend we have seen in Asia for several years. China was not mentioned in press conferences, but President Biden has said so. Rather America wants to strengthen its alliance in Asia to create a barrier to Chinese influence, both militarily and in maritime trade.

This partnership also brings the UK back to the Pacific. There was no longer a large British presence there. And Australia is also much more firmly placed in this power game. The country is put on the board game with that submarine fleet,” Waagmeester said. Australia is economically very dependent on China, but is now taking a military-strategic side against China.”

China correspondent Sjoerd den Daas: “China has said in response that this three-nation bloc needs to give up its Cold War mentality and ideological prejudice. That’s the kind of Pavlovian reaction you can expect, but I don’t think it’s going to stop there. They know that too. that this is not an agreement for a few months but for generations to come.”

People really see this as game changer. The balance in this area is seriously disturbed. China will do whatever it takes to secure the South China Sea. Relations with Australia are clearly deteriorating. In addition to the existing import duties, there will be a strong response from China. There will be no armed conflict in the region, but this increases the risk of miscalculation and of course things can always go wrong.”