Abstract: The trilateral defense alliance AUKUS has taken the US-China conflict to a new level. The authors record consistent steps in US foreign policy with the aim of military and economic containment of the PRC in the Asia-Pacific region. The article traces the connection between growing power of the PRC and US attempts to organize a united anti-Chinese front with countries of the Indo-Pacific region. Further aggravation of relations between Washington and Beijing motivates further rapprochement of Russian-Chinese relations, both in sphere of economic and military cooperation with China.