KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – British junior defence minister James Heappey on Thursday said there has been an “overhyping” of controversy over a new trilateral security pact between Australia, the United States and Britain.
Heappey said the pact known as AUKUS, under which Australia will obtain nuclear submarine technology from the United States, was merely an opportunity for sharing defence technology and does not represent a challenge for Southeast Asian countries.
AUKUS has been widely seen as a response to growing Chinese influence in the region.
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Martin Petty)
