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Malaysia, North Korea warn Indo-Pacific pact may trigger nuclear arms race
Last week the United States announced a new three-way security pact with Australia and Britain, as part of a strategic partnership under which US nuclear submarines will be supplied to Canberra. Australia will build eight nuclear-powered submarines under an Indo-Pacific security partnership that has riled China.
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In this photo taken on October 12, 2016, a Royal Australian Navy diesel and electric-powered Collins Class submarine sits in Sydney Harbour. Australia awarded French contractor DCNS the main contract in April 2016 to design and build its next generation of submarines to replace the aging Collins Class. The vessels will be a scaled-down, conventionally powered version of France's 4,700-tonne nuclear-fuelled Barracuda. (AFP/Peter Parks)
M
span class="highlight" data-qa-component="highlight-text">Malaysia on Saturday expressed concerns that Australia's plan to build nuclear-powered submarines under a new pact with Britain and the United States could catalyze a nuclear arms race in the Indo-Pacific region.
Last week the United States announced a new three-way security pact with Australia and Britain, as part of a strategic partnership under which US nuclear submarines will be supplied to Canberra. Australia will build eight nuclear-powered submarines under an Indo-Pacific security partnership that has riled China.
"It will provoke other powers to also act more aggressively in the region, especially in the South China Sea," Malaysia's Prime Minister Office said in a statement, quoted by Reuters.
The statement did not mention China, but Beijing's foreign policy in the region has been increasingly assertive, particularly its maritime claims in the resource-rich South China Sea, some of which conflict with Malaysia's own claims.
"As a country within ASEAN, Malaysia holds the principle of maintaining ASEAN as a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOFPAN)," the statement said.
Malaysia urged all parties to avoid any provocation and arms competition in the region.
Meanwhile, North Korea's foreign ministry on Monday said a new US alliance in the Indo-Pacific and recent US submarine contract with Australia could trigger a "nuclear arms race" in the region.
