AUKUS weighs expanding security pact to deter China in Indo-Pacific

The U.S., Britain and Australia will begin talks on bringing new members into their AUKUS security pact as Washington pushes for Japan to be involved as a deterrent against China.
The Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the situation, AUKUS defence ministers will announce on Monday that they will launch talks related to “pillar two” of the pact, which commits the members to jointly developing quantum computing, undersea, hypersonic, artificial intelligence and cyber technology.
The FT said, they are not considering expanding the first pillar, which is designed to deliver nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia.
AUKUS, unveiled by the three countries in 2023, is part of their efforts to push back against China’s growing power in the Indo-Pacific region. China has called the AUKUS pact dangerous and warned it could spur a regional arms race.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Wednesday the AUKUS submarine project could help deter any Chinese move against Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing claims as part of China.