Deepened US-Australia security cooperation ‘risks exacerbating confrontation’
The US and Australia are expected to hold the Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), with the participation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles, in Annapolis, Maryland on Tuesday.
Observers warned further military cooperation between the US and Australia would expand US hegemony in the region and exacerbate geopolitical confrontation.
Ahead of AUSMIN, Austin met Marles at the Pentagon to discuss the historic military-to-military progress between the two nations, the US defense department said on Monday local time. Austin hailed the achievement in their defense industrial cooperation and expanding efforts with their allies and partners.
Australia is involved in the US strategy to contain China in the Indo-Pacific region and the US has long been hoping that Australia will fully commit to the US strategy, Yu Lei, a professor at Shandong University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The US is likely to provide assistance to Australia within the scope of its own technology, equipment and technology, experts said.
In the field of security, the two countries may further discuss joint efforts to undermine the equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Pacific Island countries, Yu warned.
Also on security, a remote Australian archipelago, the Cocos Islands, is on a list of possible locations for US military construction aimed at deterring China, according to Reuters.
The Cocos Islands is reportedly listed along with the Philippines, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea for anticipated construction projects under the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, designed to enhance US force posture and infrastructure to counter China, Reuters reported.
Australia's diplomacy and security strategy have a certain degree of autonomy, but this does not entirely indicate that Australia will completely deviate from the orbit of the US, observers noted.
From what we have seen so far, the Australian government has shown prudence and political wisdom in dealing with its relations with China, demonstrating a relatively flexible posture, said Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University. He warned that Australia should realize that being used by the US and serving its Indo-Pacific strategy will only exacerbate geopolitical confrontation, rather than benefit its own security.