Australia yesterday announced an assertive new defense strategy, beefing up its long-range strike capabilities and cyberwarfare efforts amid escalating tensions with China.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison earmarked A$270 billion (US$187 billion) for new and upgraded defense capabilities over the next decade — a nearly 40 percent increase — saying that the defense force would significantly shift its focus to projecting military power across the Indo-Pacific region.
“We must face the reality that we have moved into a new and less benign strategic era,” Morrison said in a major policy speech, eyeing the end of unquestioned US hegemony and the rise of an increasingly assertive China.
“Even as we stare down the COVID pandemic at home, we need to also prepare for a post-COVID world that is poorer, that is more dangerous and that is more disorderly,” he said.
The Australian government has committed to spending at least 2 percent of GDP on defense — as US President Donald Trump has angrily demanded of allies — and plans to spend almost 40 percent more on weapons systems over the previous defense review in 2016.
The nation would acquire a more powerful strike capability that can hit targets thousands of kilometers from Australia, starting with the US’ AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile.
It would also invest in newer platforms such as drones, and boost research into hypersonic and direct energy weapons, such as lasers.
While acknowledging that the nation of 25 million people cannot match its rivals in the region — China officially plans to spend US$178 billion on defense this year alone — Morrison framed Australia as a regional power committed to an “open, sovereign Indo-Pacific, free from coercion and hegemony.”
Although Morrison said that Australia remains prepared to send troops farther afield “where it is in our national interest to do so,” he underscored that such actions could come at the cost of the nation’s ability to respond to threats in its own backyard.
Australia would significantly increase investment in defense space capabilities, including a network of satellites to create an independent communications network, Morrison said, calling it a “whole new theater” for the country, which recently launched its own space agency.
Cybersecurity is also critical to Australia’s defense strategy, he said, a day after announcing the “largest-ever” increase in cybersecurity spending — about a 10 percent hike that takes the budget for the next decade to A$15 billion.
The Australian government has said that the nation has been targeted in a wave of state-sponsored attacks suspected to have been carried out by China.
‘TOO TIRED’: The former mayor’s political party said that he had been questioned for nearly 19 hours, so he declined to be questioned at night, as he felt exhausted Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was arrested early yesterday morning after being questioned by prosecutors over his alleged role in a corruption scandal concerning the Core Pacific City redevelopment project during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The arrest was made after Ko refused to be questioned at night and attempted to leave the prosecutors’ office, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Prosecutors were worried that he would collude with others involved in the case to make false statements if they allowed him to leave, so they issued an order to arrest him, the office said. Ko yesterday sought a court
ECONOMIC RESILIENCE: Only 11.4 percent of Taiwan’s overseas investments last year were in China, and businesses are dispersing their investments elsewhere, Lai said China’s ambition to annex Taiwan is based on a desire to change the rules-based international order, rather than a desire for territorial gains, President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview. During an appearance on the talk show The View With Catherine Chang, aired last night, Lai said China aimed to achieve hegemony, and that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was an issue of worldwide concern. During the interview, Lai also discussed his “four-pillar plan” for peace and prosperity, which he first outlined in an article published by the Wall Street Journal on July 4 last year. That
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
RSS