Responding correspondents:

Lucas Waagmeester, America Correspondent: “Strategic military partnerships between countries are not unique. But this is another step in that trend that we have been seeing in Asia for several years. China was not mentioned in the press conference, but President Biden Rather, he said that the United States wants to strengthen its alliances in Asia to create a barrier against the influence of China, both in the military and in maritime trade.

This partnership also brings the UK back to the Pacific. There really wasn’t a large British presence there anymore. And Australia is also placed much more emphatically in this power play. The country gets on the board with that fleet of submarines, “says Waagmeester. Australia is economically very dependent on China, but now it is taking a military-strategic side against China.”

China Correspondent Sjoerd den Daas: “China has said in response that this three-country bloc needs to get rid of the Cold War mentality and ideological prejudices. That is Pavlov’s reaction to be expected, but I don’t think it will stop there. They also know that this is not a pact for a few months, but for future generations. “

People really see this as a game changer. The balance in the region is seriously upset. China will do everything possible to secure the South China Sea. Relations with Australia are definitely deteriorating. Aside from the import tariffs that already exist, there will be a strong response from China. There will not be any armed conflict in the region yet, but this increases the risk of miscalculations and, of course, things can always go wrong. “