https://apnews.com/cbb8195ddc24ac603cf8c4ec43d843a3

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s deal to acquire submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology was aimed at protecting the United States from Chinese nuclear attack and had changed Australia-Sino relations, former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating said on Wednesday.

Keating, who led a center-left Labor Party government from 1991 until 1996, told the National Press Club that Australia’s current conservative government treated France “appallingly” in September when it canceled a 90 billion Australian dollar ($66 million) contract to build an Australian fleet of 12 diesel-electric submarines.