Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 September 2021
5. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the escalations developing in the Pacific between the US, the UK, Australia and China; and if he will seek an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the increased militarisation in the area. [47328/21]
View answerI am seeking the Minister's views on the developing escalation in the Pacific between the US, the UK, Australia and China. Will he seek an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the increased militarisation in the area? As he will see from my question, I am raising the recent development of a new military alliance between the US, UK and Australia. This agreement means a transfer of technology from the US and UK to allow Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines and will also involve an increase in the number of US military personnel in Australia.
Ireland follows developments in the Pacific closely, including the recent trilateral security deal known as AUKUS. I am also aware of comments made by other regional actors about the deal. The AUKUS announcement identified that the first major initiative will be to develop a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia. It will be important to ensure that no proliferation risk or unhelpful precedents arise from the agreement. I welcome the statement by the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. Grossi, that the agency will engage with the three countries concerned in line with its statutory mandate and in accordance with their respective safeguards agreement with the agency.
Stability in the Pacific is important for Ireland from many perspectives, including global trade flows. Ireland is committed to promoting a multilateral, rules-based approach to engagement in the region, anchored in international law. The European Union adopted Council conclusions for co-operation across a broad range of areas in the Indo-Pacific at the Foreign Affairs Council in April, and a joint communication detailing potential regional engagement was issued in September. Ireland contributed to this multifaceted strategy and we welcome it as an opportunity to contribute to the region’s stability, security, prosperity and sustainable development. The strategy, and the EU’s renewed commitment to the region, is inclusive of all partners wishing to co-operate with the EU.
Throughout our term as an elected member of the Security Council, Ireland has been working with all countries and all members to ensure that the council acts effectively. The permanent members of the Security Council have a critical influence in addressing threats to global security, good governance and human rights, and Ireland works with them and with the elected members with a view to achieving positive outcomes from council discussions. Over the next 15 months of Ireland’s Security Council membership, we will continue to work openly and constructively with all partners as a solution-oriented member of the council.
This AUKUS agreement represents an increase in the military build-up in the area which will undoubtedly meet with a response from China. Despite claims to the contrary by the US and China, this is an escalation towards a new cold war, reminiscent of that between the US and the former Soviet Union. As Ireland now holds the presidency of the Security Council, will the Minister and the Government commit, as a matter of urgency, to seeking a meeting of the Security Council to discuss these issues? I note that the multilateral, rules-based approach was discussed in April. I believe this situation should be discussed in this Chamber. In the newspapers at the weekend, a journalist called Vincent Boland said:
The final message from AUKUS, however, is the most dismaying because it reminds us that the world is engaged in a new arms race. China, the US and Britain are already armed to the teeth and Australia will join them soon. One would think they were preparing for war. As history demonstrates, the more nations prepare for war, the more likely they are to get one.
In truth, I do not believe we could succeed, even if we tried, in getting a specific emergency Security Council meeting on this issue. I do not believe the permanent member states would accept that and one must get consensus before one can get an emergency meeting on anything. It is important to be upfront about that.
This is an issue Ireland raised at the start of this week when it chaired a meeting to recognise the 25th anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. One of the key calling cards for Ireland in the UN is in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation. We continue to speak out in that area and we have raised concerns about the direction of travel with regard to this security pact. We will continue to speak out to ensure that this does not become, as the Deputy fears, the start of a new arms race.
I accept the Minister's point that the member states of the UN Security Council have to agree, but we have to start applying pressure. Where are the alliances Ireland is making with other countries to apply pressure to discuss this? China now has a territorial claim on approximately 90% of the South China Sea. This is contested by other countries in the region. There is an international ruling which states that at least 50% of it is international waters. China is building islands on rocks and reefs which are, in fact, military bases. A serious escalation is developing and the world has to look and see how it can address it, build alliances to try to cut across what is happening and intervene and try to bring a resolution to what is developing over the next period of time. We should discuss it in the Dáil as well.
I welcome the question on this and I would be happy to have a more detailed discussion, if that is what Members would like. Ireland has actively contributed to the development of the EU's new Indo-Pacific strategy, which was announced on the same day that this pact was announced. That is a source of real frustration for the EU because we did not even know that this pact was going to be announced in the first place. One EU member state, France, has been impacted significantly by this in respect of what it had thought was a contract and agreement with Australia to provide up to a dozen submarines over 30 years. The agreement was worth $40 billion or $50 billion, and they were not nuclear-powered submarines. The EU's new Indo-Pacific strategy seeks to reinforce the EU's role as a co-operative partner in the region.
Ireland shares the EU's concern at developments which increasingly threaten the stability and security of that region.
