Australia acts to counter China’s military might
Defense review highlights Beijing’s growing threat to the ‘global rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific’
The Australian military will be rapidly transformed to prepare for a possible conflict between China and the United States.
An unclassified version of a major defense review published on Monday recommends that Australia buy longer-range missiles to counter China’s growing threat to “the global rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.”
The report outlines the biggest shake-up to Australia’s military in decades.
The defense review doesn’t identify China as a direct threat to Australia, but it does warn that Beijing’s rapid military build-up and its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea threaten the country’s security.
The report states that “the prospect of major conflict in the region … directly threatens our national interest.”
Military bases
The review also details concerns that the Australian Defense Force is not equipped for modern warfare’s “missile age” and that Australia is no longer protected by its geographic isolation.
The report is the product of Australia’s former defense minister Stephen Smith and former defense chief Sir Angus Houston. It calls for upgrades to military bases in northern Australia and more investment in long-range missiles.
It also urged the government to end a long-standing assumption that Australia would have a decade’s warning to prepare for a direct conflict.
Speaking to the media in Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the nation’s military needed to be ready for modern challenges.
“We confront the most challenging strategic circumstances since the Second World War both in our region and indeed around the world,” Albanese said.
“That is why we are investing in our capabilities, and we are investing in our relationships to build a more secure Australia and a more stable and prosperous region,” he added.
The armed forces review also warned that climate change risked “overwhelming” defense capabilities as Australia and other countries increasingly grew reliant on the military for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.
Diplomatic disputes
There has been no comment so far from Beijing. Its relations with Australia have deteriorated in recent years over various diplomatic and trade disputes.
But the election almost a year ago of a left-leaning government in Canberra has seen bilateral tensions ease – especially after Prime Minister Albanese’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an international summit in Indonesia last November.
Albanese has previously stressed that while better relations with China – Australia’s biggest trading partner – were important, the two countries would inevitably disagree on various matters.
This article is republished courtesy of Voice of America. Read the original article here.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of China Factor.