America has suggested that Australia’s AUKUS submarines – nuclear-powered submarines – acquired under AUKUS could be used to fight against China in any military conflict over Taiwan.
This comes following discussions between US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and senior Australian and New Zealand officials.
The discussions made on phone were about ongoing cooperation to support a secure, prosperous, free and open Indo-Pacific region.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed that the discussions have took place earlier this Thursday.
“They discussed our ongoing cooperation to support a secure, prosperous, free and open Indo-Pacific region,” Mr Miller said.
“The parties also discussed how we can increase our coordination and cooperation to support Pacific Islands development aspirations as outlined in the Pacific Islands Forum 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.”
AUKUS is the trilateral partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to construct nuclear-powered submarines.