China says trade pact application unrelated to new US, UK and Australia alliance

The Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday that China's application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is totally unrelated to a recently formed Indo-Pacific security alliance. In an arrangement dubbed AUKUS, the United States and Britain will provide Australia with the technology and capability to deploy nuclear-powered submarines.

China said on Thursday that it had filed an application to join the CPTPP trade pact, from which the U.S. Trump administration withdrew in 2017.