U.S., Britain, Australia weigh expanding AUKUS security pact to deter China

News Snapshot:

The U.S., Britain and Australia are set to begin talks on bringing new members into their AUKUS security pact as Washington pushes for Japan to be involved as a deterrent against China, the Financial Times reported. The countries’ defence ministers will announce discussions on Monday on “Pillar Two” of the pact, which commits the members to jointly developing quantum computing, undersea, hypersonic, artificial intelligence and cyber technology, the newspaper reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the situation. They are not considering expanding the first pillar, which is designed to deliver nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia, the FT said. AUKUS,...