Prime Minister John Howard has warned that Australia needs to work hard to prevent South Pacific island nations falling into the hands of hostile groups causing instability.
Howard said in a media report that Australia would need to play a major role in the region for the next 10 to 20 years to prevent instability in countries such as Papua New Guinea, Fiji, East Timor and the Solomon Islands.
"The South Pacific has the enduring problems of poverty, bad governance and corruption, and what we're trying to do is do something about both. It's in our interests strategically, historically and sentimentally," he said in the Sunday Telegraph.
Understand
"I can understand Australians saying, `Well, look, let's forget about it. Leave them to their own devices, don't waste any money,' but that's the wrong approach to take, because they will fall into the hands of the evil from other countries," he said.
Howard, who has recently sent forces to East Timor and the Solomon Islands to help restore law and order, said Australia was in a difficult position because of allegations of interference from other countries in the region.
The conservative prime minister has in the past repeatedly rejected attempts to paint Australia as the "sheriff of the Pacific."
The description has lurked ever since former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said Australia would never be accepted in the Asia-Pacific region because it acted as a "US deputy sheriff."
"It's very hard, because you get some early gains, then, as the shoes start to pinch, they start saying, `This is going too far, you're bullying us, you're interfering,'" Howard said.
Alternative
But he said the alternative was more destabilizing.
"If we just throw up our arms and go away, you'll end up with these places being taken over by interests that are very hostile to Australia," he said.
"It's also walking away from our moral responsibility. We are far and away the most powerful and influential country in the whole area, and nobody else will do the job if we don't," he added.
Howard, who will stand for election for the fifth time this year, said part of his defense policy approach in a decade in office had been to equip Australian forces to deal with troublespots in the region.
"This is our responsibility. The rest of the world looks to us to do it, and the more we are able to play our part effectively here, the less is legitimately expected of us in other parts of the world," he said.
"That's not to say we won't do other things, but if we can have an effective stabilizing role in the whole Pacific region, I can assure you that is mightily important to the Americans and to our allies in Europe," he said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of