CPP/CIO: AUKUS and nuke submarine deal form part of rising US aggressive policy in Asia-Pacific

Propaganda statement posted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Website (Sep 28, 2021): AUKUS and nuke submarine deal form part of rising US aggressive policy in Asia-Pacific

MARCO VALBUENA

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE PHILIPPINES

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

The recently forged Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) military alliance must be denounced and opposed by the Filipino people as this forms part of the rising aggressive policy of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region. The US is bent on raising the temperature of its conflict with China.

The AUKUS is certain to turn the region into a playground of imperialist bullies. The sovereignty of countries in the region are bound to be trampled upon by the US and its allied military forces.

Under the AUKUS, the US successfully forged a $90-billion deal for building eight nuclear submarines for Australia, in a push to make Australia perform a more aggressive military role in behalf of US interests. This will surely heighten a costly arms race between the imperialist countries to the detriment of the people.

The Party denounces the Duterte regime for blindly supporting the AUKUS and the nuclear arms deal. Foreign Affairs Sec. Teodoro Locsin even made a blanket commitment to allow the Australian nuclear-capable submarines to enter the Philippines in the future with an empty assurance that they will not be carrying nuclear weapons (something that Sec. Locsin surely cannot actually validate).

The CPP denounces the docking of three Australian warships which are set to participate in the Kamandag war exercises with the US military, as well as the AFP and Japanese forces. By bringing in their military equipment and troops, the US and US-dependent subordinate military forces are turning the Philippines into a launching pad for US-led power-projection activities in the Asia-Pacific. By mounting these war exercises, US imperialism wants to draw the Philippines into its increasingly aggressive policy to protect US economic and geopolitical interests.

The Philippines must continue to assert its national sovereignty against both Chinese and US imperialist military intervention. The Filipino people must take advantage of inter-imperialist conflicts to assert Philippine sovereignty and oppose subordinating or surrendering any part of the country to either imperialist power.

The Filipino people must firmly resist the build-up of Chinese military presence in the West Philippine Sea. They must work to secure international support to defend Philippine sovereignty. They can even welcome political and military cooperation with the US on the condition that any such form of cooperation should not involve the surrender of any part of the country to be used for stockpiling weapons or as outposts of the US military or any other foreign power. Thus, they must expose and reject plans to expand the construction of US military facilities inside camps under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) as agreed to by Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana.

The Party calls on people of the US, Australia, UK, Japan and other countries to unite and demand an end to the rising aggressive policy of the US imperialism and oppose the AUKUS and the plan to expand Australia’s nuclear submarine fleet.

The formation of the AUKUS is a result of the push of the Biden government to take a more aggressive and militarist stand against China. The US government has been goading its allies to step up efforts to strengthen their military capabilities and flex their military muscle to “contain” China. The AUKUS comes on the heels of the revival of the Quad alliance between the US, the UK, India and Japan. Upon the instigation of the US, the UK recently started to sail its aircraft carrier well beyond the bounds of Europe to establish its military presence in the South China Sea.

The US managed to bring only Australia and the United Kingdom into this military alliance, underscoring how its traditional allies, including New Zealand and Canada, as well as the European Union, do not readily support its increasingly militarist and aggressive policy towards China. Many of these countries have opted to secure their own interests and adopt a more moderate policy with regard China which happes to be their biggest trading partner.

Having ended US occupation of Afghanistan, the Biden government is seeking to provoke another major military conflict even without starting an actual war, in order to continue funneling large amounts of public funds to the military-industrial complex and allow the giant companies to continue profiting from war and threats of war. The US government is set to spend a whopping $780 billion for its military under its upcoming budget, an amount more than the combined budget of its departments of State, Justice, Education, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The US, however, will not allow itself to be dislodged from its position as the the world’s most dominant imperialist. It has proven itself willing to go to war to secure its global hegemony and spheres of trade, investment and influence.

https://cpp.ph/statements/aukus-and-nuke-submarine-deal-form-part-of-rising-us-aggressive-policy-in-asia-pacific/