Australia is not buying two types of nuclear subs. It is buying jalopies and new ones:
The five nuclear-powered submarines America plans to sell to Australia from the 2030s will not be newly built but rebadged existing Virginia class models with price tags to be determined by the US State Department, officials said.
Australia will also make a substantial financial investment in American shipbuilding yards to help lift the capacity of new Virginia class production for the US Navy to help fill the void left from selling existing Virginia class submarines to Australia, the US official said.
That makes a lot more sense than building two new types and seems a reasonable compromise.
And I’m lovin’ this:
Preparations will begin immediately for US submarines to be permanently deployed to Perth in 2027. The West Australian deployment will bolster efforts to train sailors and develop the industrial knowledge to operate and maintain submarines before Australia gets boats under its command.
That is the end of the iron ore trade with China when the time comes.
Which makes this quite amusing:
The prime minister has declared Australia will maintain “100 per cent sovereignty” over its future nuclear-powered submarines as multiple leaks from both the United Kingdom and United States suggest two types of boats will be acquired under the AUKUS partnership.
American-built, American-manned, American powered, and sitting right on top of Australia’s most significant trade route to China. We just became the 51st state of the USofA.
So long as we keep the NRA out, I’m all for it.
Let’s hope that we use our leverage with the new capital, Washington, to prevent any war in Taiwan. It is a civil conflict and a great chance to end the Chinese Empire before it begins. Just let China know that any move that way will boot it out of the global economy. It will curtail development now and end it later.
Europe’s cowards are the key swing factor in that endeavour:
The Dutch are trying to find a middle ground between the US and China in an escalating battle over the world’s chip supply chain.
The Netherlands announced new plans this week to expand restrictions on exports of the latest semiconductor technology, but they appeared to fall short of measures the Biden administration took last year to limit exports of American-made machinery and knowhow to Chinese chipmakers.
Ultimately I don’t think Europe will have any choice. NATO is all it has to protect itself from Russia. And US gas is all it has to keep itself warm. Thank you, Vlad Putin!
Finally, Ninefax’s Red Alert series has proven to be a Bobby Dazzler, upsetting all of the China grovellers at once:
Hey, speaking of China — state media South China Morning Post columnist Alex Lo accused the SMH and The Age of “pouring more fuel on to the fire” at a volatile time for Australia-China relations. The first line of the “Red Alert” series, which warns we could be at war with China within three years, rather bombastically reads: “Within 72 hours of a conflict breaking out over Taiwan, Chinese missile bombardments and devastating cyberattacks would begin pummelling Australia. For the first time since World War II, the mainland would be under attack. Meanwhile, 150,000 American troops would descend on the Top End seeking refuge from the immediate conflict zone.” Grab the popcorn, folks. Crikey’s David Hardaker called it “pompous, khaki hyperbole” and former SMH heavyweight Geoff Kitney said no editor he worked under during 40 years would’ve greenlit the “alarmist, Murdoch-style, click-bait journalism”. Hollywood screenwriting aside, the premise is not without merit. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd said China’s relationship with the US is in a pretty bad way, the ABC reports, and we do need to be careful that we don’t end up in a “war by accident”.
Crikey has taken a Millennial lurch to the fake left in recent times. It is zigging when it should be zagging. The Millennial dream of human utopia under Jean Luc Picard is over.
Ah well, good for MB!
