Aukus pact strikes at heart of Pacific regionalism | RNZ News
Aukus pact strikes at heart of Pacific regionalism
11:30 pm on 17 September 2021
RNZ Pacific Journalist [email protected]
Australia's new security pact with the US and the UK has touched a nerve at the core of Pacific regionalism.
The AUKUS alliance, announced by leaders of the three countries this week, finds them seeking a strategic advantage in the Indo-Pacific region with a focus on developing nuclear-powered submarines for the Australian Navy.
This is our Pacific way. Sometimes we don't agree, but we always act in the best interests, we always come and support one another," he said."
This is not Australia acting in the best interests of the rest of its Pacific Vuvale."
Rather than loss of business, Pacific Islands are more concerned about existential loss, having first-hand experience of nuclear testing by French, American and British.
"The ocean impacts our life," Reverend Bhagwan said."We are the fish basket of the world. So if one submarine comes in and something goes wrong and the nuclear waste from that submarine gets into our ocean, that's too much already."
Regional figure: as Pacific Forum chairman, Fiji's prime minister Frank Bainimara has outlined the regional aim for a nuclear-free Blue Pacific.
Taken by surprise, Federated States of Micronesia, a country with close ties to the US, was diplomatic in conveying how the pact caught it by surprise. A spokesperson for the FSM government said it had "trust, faith and confidence" in the US and Australia in their promotion, and protection, of a Free & Open Indo-Pacific.
"It, can safely be assumed that the United States and Australia are making security decisions with the best interests of the Pacific in mind, because our vitality is their vitality. That said, this news is a surprise.
