The US military plans to bolster its presence across Asia and is looking at an expansion of ties with Australia’s armed forces, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said.
Building up defense cooperation with Australia would reinforce a broader effort to extend the US military’s role across the Asia-Pacific region, Gates told reporters aboard his plane on Saturday, before landing in Melbourne.
“We’re looking at ways to strengthen and perhaps make more robust our presence in Asia,” Gates said, referring to a Pentagon review of how US forces are deployed around the world.
“We’re looking at a number of different options, one of those includes talking with the Australians about ... areas where we can work together in a mutually beneficial way,” he said.
At an annual bilateral meeting in Melbourne, Gates said the two governments would discuss deepening military ties, including cooperation on cyber security, missile defense and “space surveillance.”
But he said there were no plans for new US bases in Australia or elsewhere in the region.
The discussions in Australia come amid concern over China’s increasingly assertive stance in the Pacific and its growing naval power, with some Asian states turning to Washington for support.
China’s role was expected to feature high on the agenda at today’s talks and the allies hope China can be a “force for good” in the world, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said yesterday.
“I think we will be talking about the geopolitics of our region, and that means of course we’ll be talking about the rise of China and as China rises, what sort of force it is going to be in the world,” Gillard said.
“I believe we have a shared perspective with the United States that we want China to be a force for good, strongly engaged in global and regional architecture, strongly engaged in a rules-based framework,” she said.
Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith said China’s rise had been much quicker and stronger than anticipated and stressed that it needed to be open about its objectives as it “eclipsed” the military might of the US.
“We have made the point to China, both privately and publicly, that there does need to be transparency about China’s military strategy,” Smith told ABC television.
“Australia believes that China will emerge as, to use the Chinese phrase, into a harmonious environment. It will be a responsible international stakeholder and that’s what we want to see,” he said.
However, Gates insisted US plans in the region were not designed as a counterweight to China.
“This isn’t about China at all,” he said.
The US had an interest in building military ties with Asian countries to combat piracy at sea, bolster counter-terrorism efforts and provide humanitarian relief for natural disasters, he said.
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