Correspondents’ reaction to the AUKUS Agreement:

America’s correspondent Lucas Wagmeister: “Strategic military partnerships between countries are not unique. But this is another step in that direction that we have been seeing in Asia for a number of years. China was not mentioned at the press conference, but President Biden actually said instead, America wants Strengthen its alliances in Asia to create a barrier against China’s influence, both militarily and in maritime trade.

This partnership also brings the UK back into the Pacific. There really isn’t a big British presence there anymore. Australia is also placed more emphatically in this power game. “The country has been put on the playing board with this fleet of submarines,” Wagmeister says. “Economically Australia is highly dependent on China, but is now taking strategic military aspects against China.”

China reporter Schord den Das: “China said in response that this three-nation bloc needs to get rid of Cold War mentality and ideological prejudices. This is the kind of Pavlovian reaction you can expect, but I don’t think it will stop there. And they know too. That this is not an agreement for a few months but for generations to come.”

“People really see this as a file Game changer. The balance in the region is severely damaged. China will do everything in its power to secure the South China Sea. Relations with Australia are definitely deteriorating. Apart from the import duties already in place, there will be a strong response from China. There will be no armed conflict in the region yet, but this increases the risk of miscalculation and of course things can always go wrong.”