Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida to announce ‘historic’ agreement upgrading US-Japan relationship: top envoy
- ‘Unprecedented trilateral engagement’ for Washington, Tokyo and Manila when countries’ leaders meet next week, No 2 State Department official says
- US needs to implement co-production of weapons with allies as Russia reconstitutes militarily with China’s economic support, adds Kurt Campbell
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“In the past, we have been … wary of certain kinds of co-production arrangements,” he added. “The circumstances increasingly demand that we work with trusted allies and partners even on the most sophisticated weapons that will increasingly be part of our combined arsenals.”
On the Aukus front, Campbell dangled the possibility that the alliance was considering the inclusion of other countries for at least part of its undertakings.
The first promises to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, first via direct deliveries from the US and eventually through production in Australia using jointly developed technology.
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Campbell on Wednesday suggested other US allies may participate in the second pillar, although it was unclear how formalised that would become. More details on this were forthcoming, some during Kishida’s visit next week and more when the three Aukus defence chiefs meet later this year, he said.
“What we find as we scan the Indo-Pacific and other areas is that there are a number of countries that are undertaking critical research and development in areas that frankly could be very valuable,” the diplomat added.
“I think it was always believed when Aukus was launched that at some point we would welcome new countries to participate.”
Campbell said he would “wait to indicate some of the things that we might want to say in the fall about our trilateral work together in pillar two”.
Other countries had “expressed an interest” in taking part under certain circumstances, he noted, adding: “I think you’ll hear that we have something to say about that next week.”