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.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS