Members of the Sydney Anti-AUKUS Coalition (SAAC) participate in a protest in Sydney, Australia, on December 11, 2021 against the nuclear submarines deal among AUKUS members. Photo: AFP

The US is seeking to bring more countries into the AUKUS military alliance, forming a mini-NATO in Asia, which poses unprecedented threats and challenges to the region's prosperity and stability, Chinese experts warned, after media reported that Japan and Canada may join by the end of 2024 or early 2025.

According to Politico on Tuesday, which quoted one senior diplomat, Japan and Canada are in line to join the pillar two section of the AUKUS agreement by the end of 2024 or early 2025, and the participants will sign up for extensive collaboration in military technology.

While pillar one of the agreement entails the US and UK assisting Australia in constructing nuclear-powered submarines, pillar two allows the three nations to collaborate on agreements for the development of advanced military technology in areas such as artificial intelligence, hypersonic missiles and quantum technologies, the media said.

Chinese experts reached by the Global Times noted that the AUKUS alliance has been actively seeking to broaden its influence by expansion, with the overarching objective of transforming itself into a mini-NATO in Asia.

"As Australia, one of the core components of AUKUS, has been equipping nuclear-powered vessels as well as manufacturing and deploying missiles, the military alliance is aiming to leverage Australia's geographical location to achieve its strategic goals," Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

AUKUS hopes that if the US and the West were to engage in military actions against China, Australia can play the role of a vanguard, Chen said.

The expert added that AUKUS has long been hoping to expand its membership to include Japan, Canada and the Philippines. "The bloc is trying to bring strategically important countries in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as countries that may have conflicts with China, into this small group. The goal is to form a NATO-like alliance in Asia to ultimately serve as a deterrent against China," Chen noted.

According to Politico, AUKUS' likely membership expansion comes amid fears from the three nations that the US November presidential election result would make the country wind back or scrap the AUKUS deal.

Chinese experts said linking AUKUS' expansion attempts with the results of the US election is naive. Regardless of the election outcome, the US has consistently exerted pressure on China, and its strategy to contain China's development has remained unchanged, analysts said.

Since its inception, AUKUS has been a source of controversy, both internationally and within the alliance. According to the Reuters on Wednesday, Australian unions have shown fierce resistance against plans for a new submarine base, which was one of the major deals of the AUKUS security pact.

"We don't want to be part of someone else's belligerent nuclear plans," the protesters said on Monday, urging the government to abandon the plans in a series of protests. Reuters reported that the unions' resistance shows the challenge facing the high-stakes defense project with the US and UK that aims to counter China's growing influence in the Pacific region.

Regarding the AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has previously stated that this is a typical Cold War mentality and a move that opens a Pandora's Box, which will seriously impact regional and global peace and security.

"The US, the UK and Australia should listen to the call of the international community and countries in the region, stop pursuing bloc politics and confrontation, stop putting their selfish geopolitical agenda above nuclear non-proliferation obligations," Wang said.

AUKUS' introducing group politics and Cold War confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region will pose unprecedented threats and challenges to the region's prosperity and stability, observers noted.