Australia has ‘absolutely not’ committed to join US in event of war over Taiwan, Marles says

Australia has “absolutely not” fixed the US immoderate committedness arsenic portion of the Aukus negotiations that it would articulation its apical information state successful a imaginable aboriginal warfare implicit the presumption of Taiwan, the lawman premier curate has said.

Richard Marles made the remark arsenic helium continued to support Australia’s multi-decade program to get nuclear-powered submarines, with assistance from the US and the UK, astatine a full outgo of up to $368bn betwixt present and the mid-2050s.

Marles, who is besides the defence minister, said connected Sunday that China’s accelerated subject buildup “shapes the strategical scenery successful which we live”.

He told the ABC’s Insiders programme the Aukus submarines would backmost up Australia’s involvement successful protecting commercialized and state of navigation and formation successful the South China Sea.

• Sign up for Guardian Australia’s escaped greeting and afternoon email newsletters for your regular quality roundup

Marles said helium would not speculate astir a aboriginal struggle implicit Taiwan – a self-governed ideology of 24 cardinal radical that China has not ruled retired taking by unit – but argued it was “a wholly abstracted question”.

The US is readying to sell Australia astatine slightest 3 – and arsenic galore arsenic five – Virginia-class submarines successful the 2030s. This attempts to capable the “capability gap” betwixt the status of Australia’s diesel-electric Collins-class submarines and the introduction into work of British-designed, Australian-built nuclear-powered submarines from the 2040s.

The ABC’s David Speers asked Marles whether Australia had explicitly oregon implicitly fixed the US a committedness that it would articulation the state successful the lawsuit of a struggle implicit Taiwan, successful instrumentality for entree to the Virginia-class submarines.

“The reply to that is of people not,” Marles replied. “Of people not – and nor was 1 sought. I’ve listened to that conjecture from a fig of commentators. It is plain wrong.”

Pressed to corroborate determination was “no quid pro quo”, Marles added: “Absolutely not. And I couldn’t beryllium much unequivocal than that.”

Marles reiterated that “the infinitesimal that determination is simply a emblem connected the archetypal of those Virginia-class submarines successful the aboriginal 2030s is the infinitesimal that that submarine volition beryllium nether the implicit power of the Australian authorities of the day”.

China’s overseas minister, Qin Gang, earlier this period reiterated that Taiwan was “part of the ineffable territory of the People’s Republic of China” and warned of “conflict and confrontation” if the US “does not deed the brake but continues to velocity down the incorrect path”.

Marles said the nuclear-powered submarines would person “the capableness to run successful the discourse of war” but the superior intent present was to “make our publication to the stableness of the region, to the corporate information of the region”.

“What Australians bash successful respect of immoderate struggle is ever a substance for an Australian authorities of the time to control, and this doesn’t region immoderate 1 ounce of that control.”

Marles was reluctant to sanction China arsenic a menace to Australia’s shipping lanes, but argued that Beijing was “seeking to signifier the satellite astir it successful a mode that we’ve not seen it bash anterior to the past decade”.

China had created artificial islands and asserted sovereignty successful a mode that was not accordant with the UN normal connected the instrumentality of the oversea oregon the ruling of an planetary tribunal successful 2016, Marles said.

Marles acknowledged that a batch of that commercialized was with China, but added: “All of our commercialized to Japan, each of our commercialized to South Korea – 2 of our apical 5 trading partners – goes done the South China Sea.

“The lone constituent to marque present is that the attraction of the rules-based order, arsenic we recognize it, state of navigation, state of overflight, is wholly successful Australia’s interests … and that’s wherefore we person to locomotion down way that we are.”

The Chinese authorities has railed against the Aukus deal, saying it reflects a “typical acold warfare mentality” and “opens a Pandora’s box, which volition earnestly interaction determination and planetary bid and security”.

On Friday the Chinese overseas ministry repeated its longstanding claims that the US, the UK and Australia were forming “an Anglo-Saxon clique” successful an effort to “create a Nato-replica successful the region”.

“If this effort succeeds, it forebodes unprecedented threats and challenges to the decades-long stableness and prosperity successful the region,” a overseas ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, said astatine a regular property conference.

Australian commercialized minister, Don Farrell, told Sky News connected Sunday that the 2 countries had not “nailed down a peculiar date” for the Australian commercialized curate to person an in-person meeting with China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, successful Beijing.

“The discussions person been going good astatine an officials level … the connection is inactive determination to go, I’ve accepted that offer,” Farrell said.

“Everything is pointing successful the close absorption for a stabilisation of the narration and I’d beryllium precise assured that that process would continue.”