Biden to Announce New Defence Deal With UK, Australia Apparently to Counter China

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Later on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden is set to announce later a new working group with the UK and Australia to share advanced technologies in a thinly veiled bid to counter China, the news outlet Politico reported citing sources.

The group, to be known by the acronym AUUKUS representing the three countries, will make it easier for three-way sharing of information and know-how in key technological areas like artificial intelligence, cyber, underwater systems, and long-range strike capabilities, a White House official and a congressional staffer told Politico.

There will be a nuclear element to the pact in which the United States and the United Kingdom share their knowledge of how to maintain nuclear-defence infrastructure, one of the sources said.

While there was nothing explicitly mentioning China in the deal, the subtext of the announcement was that this was another move by western allies to push back against China's rise in the military and technology arenas, Politico observed.

Biden is to announce the deal in a 5:00 p.m. ET (21:00 GMT) address on Wednesday.

Later this month, the White House will host its first Quad leaders meeting, bringing Biden together with the prime ministers of Australia, India, and Japan in an alliance similarly contrived to counter China.