Antinuclear

USA militarisation in Australia; drones might upset our Asian neighbours

There is increasing concern among strategic analysts and defence experts about what the growing US military presence on Australian territory might mean… the strengthening US presence in Australia appears to be drawing us into a potentially dangerous game of Chinese containment.

why [do] we want a big fleet of subs to contain and deter our largest trading partner ?

These Drones Will Irritate The Neighbours. New Matilda, By Ben Eltham, 29 March 12,  What’s our priority – trade with China or strategic links to the US? Reports of US surveillance drones in the Cocos Islands are raising some awkward questions about our ties in the region, writes Ben Eltham

First it was US Marines in Darwin. Then it was proposals for more US Navy ships to operate out of the HMAS Stirling naval base in Fremantle — including aircraft carriers and nuclear attack submarines. Now it’s USsurveillance drones in the Cocos Islands. America’s interest in Australia as a base for its south Asian and Indian Ocean operations appears to be growing…….

The object of that strategy, although few are prepared to talk too openly about it, is of course China. Already a great power with the economic clout to act as the US treasury’s key creditor, China is also embarking on a rapid arms build-up to modernise its armed forces, particularly in terms of its navy. For the first time since the 14th century, China is acquiring a legitimate blue-water naval presence. Although it is decades away from challenging the US Navy for supremacy on the world’s oceans, China is acquiring potent anti-ship weapons (including a potential game-changer in the form of an aircraft carrier-killing ballistic missile) that will make it much harder for America to project power.

The US and China are still formally friends, but the relationship is an uneasy one. The rise of China as a great power appears to be encouraging the US and its allies to adopt an unofficial policy of containment towards the People’s Republic.

What this means for Australia is suddenly becoming quite important. As Aaron Fernandes noted here in New Matilda last year, there is a stark divergence developing between Australia’s economic and strategic policy. “China’s continued industrialisation represents Australia’s only plan for economic prosperity,” he pointed out. “However, defence and diplomatic interests are dependent on US primacy remaining unchallenged.”….

There is increasing concern among strategic analysts and defence experts about what the growing US military presence on Australian territory might mean. Hugh White — not exactly a bleeding heart — has a strong opinion piece out today in which he criticises the move. White observes that when taken, the strengthening US presence in Australia appears to be drawing us into a potentially dangerous game of Chinese containment.

“US basing proposals are not about drawing American forces back further from China, but about dragging Australia into America’s escalating rivalry with our biggest trading partner,” he writes.

Nor has much thought apparently been given to what effect the increased US presence in Australia’s north-western waters might have on our most important bilateral relationship — with Indonesia. Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa expressed reservations about the deal to bring US Marines to Darwin in November last year, when it was first announced. “What I would hate to see is that if such developments were to provoke reaction and counter reaction … a vicious circle or tensions and mistrust or distrust,” he said at the time…..

One way to get around the vast cost of building our own submarines is to buy or lease subs from the Americans. The US Virginia class is the state of the art in modern attack submarines, and would fit the specifications outlined in the White Paper perfectly. But they are nuclear. Upgrading Stirling to handle the Virginia class would therefore dovetail nicely with this line of thinking, as it would allow Australia to consider acquiring our own fleet of nuclear attack subs sometime in the future.

But the broader question — of just why we want a big fleet of subs to contain and deter our largest trading partner — is still the one no-one in Defence seems to want to answer. As the build-up of US naval assets in the Pacific and Indian continues, that question is becoming too big to ignore.  http://newmatilda.com/2012/03/29/drones-irritate-neighbours

March 29, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, politics international, weapons and war