Indo-Pacific Arms Race

By: Logan Antio

Editor: Grace Pilkay

Senior Editor: Brianna Madison

Recently, the United States, UK, and Australia have all agreed to a nuclear submarine deal. This long-term alliance is called AUKUS. The price for these submarines to be manufactured and operated was said to cost around $90 Billion. The goal is to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines. The pact was created to respond to the rapidly growing Chinese military power.

Because of this deal, countries such as North Korea, China, and Indonesia have warned that the U.S. has risked starting a dangerous arms race. "These are extremely undesirable and dangerous acts which will upset the strategic balance in the Asia-Pacific region and trigger off a chain of nuclear arms race, " the KCNA news agency said, quoting North Korea's foreign ministry.

Many countries in the Indo-Pacific region have begun to rapidly increase their military strength. These countries include Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, North Korea, China, and Japan. Taiwan has stated that it will spend $8.9 Billion (T$240 Billion) over the next five years upgrading its military weapon capabilities. South Korea has just recently successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile. North Korea has tested its first railway-based missile launching system. China has been mass-producing its Dong-Feng 26(DF-26) which can be fitted with nuclear warheads and conduct precise strikes up to 4000km. Lastly, Japan has spent millions on new long-range weapons and new truck-mounted anti-ship missiles.