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US, Australia Seek New Military Cooperation in Face of China

AFP

   WASHINGTON - The United States and Australia said Tuesday they will
   expand military cooperation as tensions soar with China, presenting a
   common front between the allies.

   Going ahead in Washington with annual talks despite the coronavirus
   pandemic, Australia's foreign and defense ministers offered clear, if
   more mildly stated, support for a hawkish shift on China by President
   Donald Trump's administration.

   "The United States knows the threats that you and the rest of the free
   world face. And the United States stands with you in our unbreakable
   alliance," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Australian ministers
   during a joint news conference.

   U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper hailed the participation of five
   Australian warships last week in exercises with a U.S.carrier strike
   group and a Japanese destroyer in the Philippine Sea.

   "These exercises not only bolster interoperability, but also send a
   clear signal to Beijing that we will fly, we will sail and we will
   operate wherever international law allows and defend the rights of our
   allies and partners to do the same," Esper said.

   Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds said the two countries will
   build ties across a slew of defense areas including hypersonic,
   electronic and space-based warfare.

   The cooperation will "strengthen our shared ability to contribute to
   regional security and to deter malign behavior in our region," she
   said.

   In a joint statement, the ministers said they discussed expanding
   operations in the northern Australian city of Darwin, where U.S.
   Marines have been rotating in since 2012 under an initiative of former
   president Barack Obama.

   The United States will establish a military fuel reserve in Darwin and
   the allies will consider exercises there with like-minded countries --a
   likely reference to Japan and India.

   In one step that had been too far, Australia last year said it would
   not serve as a base for U.S. intermediate-range missiles --widely seen
   as a way to target China.

   Esper, asked if Australia had warmed to the missiles, said the allies
   had a "full suite of capabilities and strategies we intend to roll out
   together in the years ahead."

   Australian solidarity

   Pompeo has championed a hard line on China, questioning the
   half-century U.S. policy of engagement and urging an alliance to
   confront a "Frankenstein" Beijing.

   Despite Australia's reliance on trade with China, Prime Minister Scott
   Morrison's right-leaning government has largely backed the United
   States.

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