The US and Australia reached an agreement to expand the US military footprint on the southern continent, as both countries bolster defense ties to respond to an increasingly assertive China.
The changes include more frequent and longer visits of US submarines to Australia, a regular rotation of US Army watercraft and collaborating on guided missile production, the nations’ defense ministers announced yesterday in Brisbane.
Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said the US-Australia relationship “has never been in better shape than it is right now,” as he reeled off a list of efforts to enhance cooperation.
Photo: Bloomberg
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) called the US Australia’s “closest strategic partner.”
The two countries also announced plans to further cooperate on space issues as well as step up integration of Japan into military planning.
“There’s been a strategic convergence between Canberra and Washington over the range of challenges that China poses,” said Charles Edel, Australia chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
The relationship “has quickly evolved into one of America’s most important strategic partnerships.”
In a sign of the growing ties, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Marles are scheduled to view the largest-ever iteration of the biennial Talisman Sabre exercises off the northern coast of Australia today.
More than 30,000 troops from more than a dozen countries are to participate in the exercises, including a large contingent from the US.
The exercises were paused after an Australian army helicopter crashed off the country’s northeast coast late on Friday night.
While a search-and-rescue operation was under way for the four crew members who were on the MRH-90 Taipan, some exercises resumed yesterday.
US Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said that the scale of the Talisman Sabre exercises was likely to have a “significant deterrent effect” on China as it considers whether to attack Taiwan.
“Being able to demonstrate that you can actually operate in combat with that number of allies and partners has a significant deterrent effect,” Wormuth said in an interview. “It wouldn’t be just the United States that would be involved in that conflict. It would likely be with our allies and partners.”
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