UK forms defence pact with US and Australia to keep China in check

The UK has announced a new defence partnership with the US and Australia as the West seeks to keep China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific in check.

In a joint statement on the evening of Wednesday (15 September) Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the creation of a “new trilateral defence partnership”.

Johnson said the formation of the alliance would allow Australia to get nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific, but emphasised that these would not be armed with nuclear weapons.