TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
AUKUS no proliferation threat, respects ASEAN centrality: Sung Kim
The pact, under which Australia will obtain nuclear submarine technology from the United States, should be of no concern in terms of proliferation, and the three parties have strong respect for the centrality of Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, the ambassador, Sung Kim, told a virtual forum.
Change Size
United States Ambassador to Indonesia Sung Yong Kim attends an event hosted by GP Ansor, the youth wing of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama, in Jakarta on Oct. 29, 2020. During the event, US Seceretary of State Mike Pompeo gives a speech about religious diversity and calls Indonesian Muslims to speak up against China's alleged human rights abuses against the Uighur minority. (Antara/Galih Pradipta)
T
he three-way defense agreement between Australia, United States and Britain known as AUKUS is not aimed at a particular country and does not put nations in the Indo-Pacific in an awkward position, the US ambassador to Indonesia said on Wednesday.
The pact, under which Australia will obtain nuclear submarine technology from the United States, should be of no concern in terms of proliferation, and the three parties have strong respect for the centrality of Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, the ambassador, Sung Kim, told a virtual forum.
Also on Wednesday, Russia has sent the United States questions on the AUKUS defence agreement and plans to send queries to Australia and the United Kingdom as well, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.
The three-way pact, under which Australia will obtain nuclear submarine technology from the United States, has angered France and concerned China since it was announced by Washington, London and Canberra earlier this month.
Earlier on Tuesday, China's State Councillor Wang Yi, who is also the country's foreign minister, said on Tuesday the AUKUS security pact between the United States, Britain and Australia brings hidden danger to regional peace, stability and the international order.
Wang made the comments as he co-chaired the latest round of the high-level strategic dialogue between China and the EU alongside EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.
