Australia said yesterday it would join a controversial US-led program designed to shoot down ballistic missiles, strengthening its military ties with a key ally despite a likely backlash in Asia.
Announcing the decision, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the system would deter rogue states from acquiring missile technology but he gave no details of possible costs or how Australia would participate.
"This is a strategic decision to put in place a long-term measure to counter potential threats to Australia's security and its interests from ballistic missile proliferation," Downer told parliament, adding Britain and Japan supported the program.
While he did not mention North Korea by name, the country has a nuclear weapons program and has ballistic missiles capable of hitting US ally Japan. North Korea is also a major exporter of missile parts and technology.
Critics have said the technology is unproven and expensive and could trigger a regional arms race.
A Japanese newspaper said yesterday Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi intended to introduce a missile defense system to protect Japan from the threat posed by North Korea's ballistic missiles. Koizumi denied any decision had been made but said the issue must be tackled soon.
The Bush administration has earmarked US$50 billion over the next five years to build a missile defense with an initial, rudimentary capability to shoot down incoming warheads.
The multilayered system is still under development and could include interceptor rockets to smash into a missile soon after takeoff, high-powered lasers and ship-based antimissile rockets.
Some fear the program could spark a new arms race but some defense experts view Australia as an essential component because of a US monitoring station at Pine Gap in the central Australian desert.
Canberra's move to join the program -- as well as the US Joint Strike Fighter project to build an advanced fighter-bomber -- could irk Asian neighbors who already accuse Canberra of playing "deputy sheriff" for Washington in the region.
Downer said it would strengthen the military ties with the US that his conservative government has bolstered since coming to power in 1996.
Analysts said that joining the program added "another layer of intimacy" to the US-Australian relationship that would not go down well in the region.
"It is dangerous inasmuch as it seems that when the United States acts, Australia follows by reflex," said foreign policy expert Michael McKinley from the Australian National University.
"It creates a sense that Australia is only reluctantly a part of the region in social and economic terms," he said.
Downer, aware of regional sensitivities, said the government had already briefed some Asian nations of its involvement and would keep its regional partners informed of its participation.
Defense Minister Robert Hill said that under the program, Australia could include expanded cooperation to detect missiles at launch, acquiring ship or ground-based sensors, and research, but ruled out a ground-based missile defense system.
He made no mention of possible contracts for local firms.
Defense expert Aldo Borgu from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank said it remained to be seen if the so-called "Son of Star Wars" technology would actually be able to stop missiles in flight.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS