UK Boosts Defense Spending In Response To Russia And China

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Monday to increase military funding by 5 billion pounds (USD 6 billion) over the next two years in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the 바카라�epoch-defining challenge바카라� posed by China. The increase, part of a major update to U.K. foreign and defense policy, is less than military officials wanted. Sunak said the U.K. would increase military spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product 바카라�in the longer term,바카라� but didn't set a date. Britain currently spends just over 2 percent of GDP on defense, and military chiefs want it to rise to 3 percent.

The extra money will be used, in part, to replenish Britain's ammunition stocks, depleted from supplying Ukraine in its defense against Russia. Some will also go towards a U.K.-U.S.-Australia deal to build nuclear-powered submarines. 바카라�The world has become more volatile, the threats to our security have increased,바카라� Sunak told the BBC during a visit to the U.S. 바카라�It's important that we protect ourselves against those.바카라� Sunak met U.S. President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in San Diego on Monday to confirm the next steps for the military pact, known as AUKUS, struck by the three countries in 2021 amid mounting concern about China's actions in the Pacific.

Under the deal, the U.K. and Australia will build new nuclear-powered, conventionally armed subs from a British design, with U.S. technology and support. Most of the U.K. construction will take place in shipyards at Barrow-in-Furness in northwest England, with the first subs completed by the late 2030s. Australia will also buy up to five Virginia-class subs from the U.S. The three leaders said the submarine plan 바카라�elevates all three nations' industrial capacity to produce and sustain interoperable nuclear-powered submarines for decades to come, expands our individual and collective undersea presence in the Indo-Pacific, and contributes to global security and stability.바카라�

Britain last produced a defense, security, and foreign policy framework, known as the Integrated Review, in 2021. The government ordered an update in response to an increasingly volatile world. The new report, released Monday, said "there is a growing prospect that the international security environment will further deteriorate in the coming years, with state threats increasing and diversifying in Europe and beyond.바카라� Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine upended European security order, and the review said Russia poses 바카라�the most acute threat to the U.K.'s security.바카라�

The U.K. is also increasingly concerned about what the government calls 바카라�the epoch-defining challenge presented by the Chinese Communist Party's increasingly concerning military, financial, and diplomatic activity.바카라� The defense review said that "wherever the Chinese Communist Party's actions and stated intent threaten the U.K.'s interests, we will take swift and robust action to protect them.바카라� U.K. intelligence agencies have expressed growing concern about China's military might, covert activities, and economic muscle. Ken McCallum, head of domestic spy agency MI5, said in November that 바카라�the activities of the Chinese Communist Party pose the most game-changing strategic challenge to the U.K.바카라� MI5 said in January 2022 that a London-based lawyer had tried to 바카라�covertly interfere in U.K. politics바카라� on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party 바카라� including by channeling money to an opposition Labour Party lawmaker.

Concern about Beijing's activities has sparked a government-wide catch-up campaign on China, including Mandarin-language training for British officials and a push to secure new sources of critical minerals that are essential to technology. The review doesn't brand China itself as a threat to the U.K., and Sunak has stressed the need for economic ties with China, to the annoyance of more hawkish members of the governing Conservative Party. 바카라�We are sliding towards a new Cold War," said Conservative lawmaker Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the House of Commons Defense Committee. 바카라�Threats are increasing, but here we are staying on a peacetime budget.바카라�

Speaking as he traveled to the U.S., Sunak said China's Communist government 바카라�is increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad, and has the desire to reshape the world order.바카라� But, he added, 바카라�you can't ignore China바카라� given the size of its economy. 바카라�It's right to engage with China, on the issues that we can find common ground and make a difference on, for example, climate change, global health, macroeconomic stability,바카라� he said.  바카라�That's the right approach whilst being very robust in defending our values and our interests.바카라�