PHNOM PENH (XINHUA) – Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen has said that the tripartite AUKUS alliance, a military pact among the United States (US), Britain and Australia, is becoming a concern for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean).
Under the AUKUS alliance, which was announced in September 2021, Australia will be able to build nuclear-powered submarines with technology provided by the US and Britain.
“The small-scale alliance relevant to nuclear-powered submarines among the US, Britain and Australia is becoming a concern for Asean and countries in the region because Asean is a nuclear weapon-free zone, and we oppose nuclear weapon proliferation,” he said in a speech during the graduation ceremony of nearly 6,000 students at the Royal University of Law and Economics.
Hun Sen said this military alliance is the “starting point of a very dangerous arms race” in the region.
“I think if this situation continues, the world will face a bigger danger,” he said.
A senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh Joseph Matthews, said AUKUS is posing a major security threat to Asean and the whole Asian region.
“This alliance will trigger a conventional and nuclear arms race in the region, and thus destabilise the peace and security, undermine the economic development and destroy the Asean’s centrality,” he told Xinhua.
