UK to China: Britain will be a strong military presence in the Indo-Pacific with our Australian allies

British PM Keir Starmer’s top security officials have elevated ­defence and AUKUS as ‘bedrocks’ of the relationship with Australia, as Britain sent one of its carrier groups to dock in Australia for the first time in decades.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey, Defence Minister Richard Marles and Commodore James Blackmore aboard HMS Prince of Wales on Sunday. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s top security officials have declared Britain will always uphold “international laws that protect our way of life” in the Indo-Pacific, amid concerns over rising Chinese aggression and military expansion, as they elevate ­defence, AUKUS nuclear sub­marines and military technology as “bedrocks” of the relationship with Australia.

Joining more than 3000 British armed forces personnel on Sunday in the Northern Territory, where 35,000 troops from 19 countries are participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey warned that “conflicts and aggressive ­autocracies” are on the rise.

The senior UK Labour ministers also committed Britain to ­“always stand as the closest of ­allies (with Australia)” to defend freedom, prosperity and the rules-based order.

In a move that will draw the ire of Beijing, Britain has sent one of its carrier groups to dock in Australia for the first time in decades, with the $6bn-plus aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales conducting exercises with Australian and US defence personnel and pilots.

As Exercise Talisman Sabre is closely monitored by Xi Jinping’s People’s Liberation Army, Mr Lammy and Mr Healey have written in The Australian that the ­largest ever Australia and US-led defence exercise ensured soldiers from different countries could “work together … in a massive display of military deterrence”.

Mr Lammy and Mr Healey, who were in Darwin with Foreign Minister Penny Wong and ­Defence Minister Richard Marles after holding formal AUKMIN talks in Sydney on Friday, wrote that “in today’s increasingly ­volatile world, with conflicts and ­aggressive autocracies on the rise, partnerships between like-minded democracies are vital for protecting our shared values and way of life”.

Penny Wong and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy aboard HMS Prince of Wales. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“The UK’s huge presence in this (Talisman-Sabre) exercise was made possible by our carrier strike group visiting Darwin. A formidable formation of naval and air assets demonstrating the power of alliances – with warships from Canada, Norway, Spain and New Zealand. These exercises aren’t just symbolic. They strengthen ­regional stability and improve our forces’ ability to act together,” Mr Lammy and Mr Healey wrote.

“Our security co-operation doesn’t end there. We’re extending our naval personnel exchange program to include more personnel and more vessels. Our Five Eyes relationship keeps us safe through world-leading intelligence sharing. And we continue to jointly train Ukrainian armed forces, while UK personnel are set to serve aboard Australian Wedgetail aircraft that will monitor Ukrainian supply lines.

“From the battlefields of northern Europe to the frontlines of Korea and Afghanistan, our two nations have stood together when it mattered most. Today, we face a new era of threat, which demands a new era of Australian-British partnership.”

With the British government moving over the weekend to support the AUKUS pact for “50 years” despite a Trump administration review into the agreement, Mr Lammy and Mr Healey’s ­comments are the latest sign of a cooling attitude towards China across Europe.

Mr Healey on Sunday said the high volume of British trade going through the Pacific and his belief that the British military should be “NATO first, but not NATO only” were also key factors in Britain’s increasing focus on the region. “We secure peace through strength,” he said in Darwin.

Just a week after Anthony ­Albanese spent six days in China trying to grow ties with Mr Xi and promote more trade with China, Mr Marles in Darwin said the Talisman Sabre exercises showed there were not “multipolar” world orders, but one set of global rules.

“This is an exercise which is about – from an Australian ­national interest point of view – building Australian capability,” he said. “And we really appreciate the presence of the UK here. ­Obviously, the Prince of Wales being here.

“I guess what comes to mind, in a sense, is the words of (French) President (Emmanuel) Macron recently when he was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue. And he said there’s not multiple world rules-based orders – there is one rules-based order. And it applies right round the world. And all of us are engaged in upholding the rules-based order. We live in a ­global community.”

Sir Keir’s strengthening of support for AUKUS has come as ­Donald Trump spent the weekend at his Scottish golf resort, and as UK Labour prepares for a ­highly anticipated September state visit during which Mr Trump will be hosted by the King and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle.

The British Prime Minister has played a growing diplomatic role between the US’s traditional Western partners and an isolationist White House.

British F-35Bs aboard HMS Prince of Wales. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

And as Britain and Australia try to safeguard AUKUS from their ends, US congressman Joe Courtney says there should be greater clarity around the AUKUS review, with another leading Democrat blasting the US Department of Defence for a lack of transparency and refusing to provide basic information and briefings when requested.

Mr Courtney, a Democrat from Connecticut and the co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Australia Caucus, said there was a “systemic issue” with the Pentagon and a “dearth of communication” in which information was only coming out in small “dribbles”.

The British pledge to support Australia in the Indo-Pacific has also followed its European Union neighbours meeting with Mr Xi at a summit that has exposed deepening tensions between the EU and Beijing.

Despite the long-running animosity between the EU and the Trump administration, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in recent weeks has voiced her growing concerns about Mr Xi’s tacit support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the flooding of Chinese products into European markets.

Mr Lammy and Mr Healey said through AUKUS, the carrier strike group deployment and strengthened military co-operation, Britain and Australia “are leading efforts to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific and uphold the international laws that protect our way of life”.

“Our alliance will deliver the ‘defence dividend’ that sits alongside our strengthened security: creating high-skilled jobs, world-leading technologies and reinvigorating our proud industrial base in both nations,” they wrote.

Exercise Talisman Sabre, which began on July 13 and concludes on August 4, is hosted in Australia and, for the first time this year, in Papua New Guinea. In addition to Australia, the US, Britain and PNG, other participating nations include France, Germany, Canada, India, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, The Philippines, Fiji, Singapore, Thailand, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway. Observer nations ­included this year include Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

Mr Lammy and Mr Healey, who were junior ministers when Tony Blair and John Howard ­established AUKMIN in 2006, said they had agreements with their Australian counterparts to “deepen co-operation on industrial policy, global free trade, AI and cyber security to further boost and protect our economies”.

“But it is defence that remains the bedrock of our relationship. Our AUKUS partnership with the United States is our most strategically significant defence agreement in generations, and this week we’ve taken decisive steps to fast-track delivery. We re-established the Defence Industry Dialogue to boost military technology development and strengthen procurement.

“And, most significantly, we’ve signed the Treaty of Geelong to bolster AUKUS and accelerate delivery of the SSN-AUKUS fleet of nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines. SSN-AUKUS will be the largest, most advanced, most powerful attack submarines ever operated by ­either the Royal Australian Navy or Royal Navy.

“They will help us protect our vital trade routes and sovereign borders, and support thousands of jobs in Australia and the UK. Just as it strengthens our collective security, our investment in AUKUS will be an engine for growth across our two nations. It is creating 10,000 jobs in Adelaide, 3000 in Perth, and thousands more in supply chains across the country. While we’ve been strengthening our political and economic ties in recent days, our armed forces have been training side-by-side across Australia.”

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Noah Yim, Joe Kelly