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[In March 2023, heads of state Albanis, Biden and Sunak (from left) held a joint press conference in the United States.】
According to a report by the Financial Times on April 7, 2024, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia will announce negotiations to admit new members to join the "AUKUS" agreement. Washington is pushing Japan to participate in it to enhance its deterrence against China.
The Financial Times report quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that the defense ministers of the three AUKUS countries will announce on April 8 the launch of expansion talks related to the AUKUS "Second Pillar" program, involving cooperation in technologies such as submarine capabilities and hypersonic weapons.

[Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine]
The AUKUS agreement consists of two "pillars". The first pillar is to provide Australia with "Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines; the second pillar is to promote advanced capabilities technology projects and accelerate artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, advanced network capabilities, The coordinated development of key technologies such as hypersonic capabilities and electronic warfare, and their application to the military.
The report said that the AUKUS agreement reached by the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom in 2021 is part of efforts to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. China condemns the AUKUS project as an illegal nuclear proliferation act and warns that it may trigger a regional arms race.
With China's recent escalation of provocative actions, some U.S. officials have pushed Japan to formally join AUKUS, making AUKUS "JAUKUS." The Financial Times reported that AUKUS's commitment to start consultations on the issue of membership expansion was a compromise between allies.
Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, published an article in the Wall Street Journal last week that Japan was "about to become AUKUS's first additional Pillar 2 partner," although he did not say when the official announcement would be made.

[U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Campbell made remarks (video screenshot)]

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell also hinted at an event at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington think tank last week that AUKUS's "second pillar" may attract more Indo-Pacific partners.
Campbell said that with regard to the hypersonic, long-range strike, underwater capabilities, network and other capabilities involved in AUKUS's "second pillar", many Indo-Pacific countries are conducting key research and development in these fields. He also said that there are indeed other countries that have expressed interest in participating in AUKUS when the time is right,"you will hear, we will next week.