More details of President Joe Biden’s visit to Southern California — which will include a Tuesday, March 14, trek to Monterey Park to talk gun control — have been released, highlighted by an international mini-summit.
Before heading to the site of the Lunar New Year attack that left 11 people dead, the president will meet with prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Australia on Monday in San Diego. Biden’s itinerary also includes a visit to Las Vegas on Wednesday, according to the White House, where he will discuss his plan to lower prescription drug costs.
In San Diego, Biden will meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australia’s Anthony Albanese, according to the White House. They’ll engage in bilateral talks and discuss the Australia – United Kingdom – United States (AUKUS) Partnership, the White House said.
U.K. officials said Wednesday that those talks will include Australia’s procurement of nuclear submarines under the AUKUS defense agreement among the three nations.
The previous Australian government infuriated France in 2021 by canceling a $66 billion contract for a French-built fleet of conventionally powered submarines and opting instead for nuclear-powered versions in a deal secretly brokered with the U.S. and Britain.
The deal came amid concern in Australia and the U.S. about China’s increasingly assertive presence in the Pacific region.
Albanese has stood by the AUKUS agreement to embrace nuclear technology. An announcement on whether Australia will opt for a version of the U.S. Virginia-class or British Astute-class submarines is expected soon.
Locally, the visit to Monterey Park is being welcomed in the city, which is still recovering from the shooting, which left 11 dead after gunman walked into a beloved dance studio in the city and opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol. The suspected gunman killed himself as police closed in on him hours later in Torrance.
“We were honored to have received the vice…
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