Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles yesterday said he aims to deepen defense ties with France, Germany and Britain during visits to the European partners this week, while Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) said she would travel to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and East Timor to bolster relations in the Pacific amid growing Chinese influence.
Marles trip, from today to Thursday, would be his first since the Australian Labor Party won a general election in May.
The government said the France stop would help “restore and renew” their bilateral relationship, calling France one of Australia’s “oldest and most capable partners.”
Photo: Reuters
Australia in June reached a 555 million euro (US$553.1 million at the current exchange rate) settlement with French military shipyard Naval Group over its scrapping of a multibillion dollar submarine deal last year.
Canberra hoped the settlement would help repair a rift after the previous administration ditched the deal in favor of building nuclear-powered submarines with the US and Britain under a new alliance dubbed AUKUS.
This week’s trip would also see Marles participate in a roundtable with German defense industry representatives, and in Britain, he would visit shipyards, the government said.
“Our relationship with the United Kingdom is both historic and mutually beneficial, and is reflected through our continued commitment to AUKUS,” Marles said.
“My visit to Europe comes at a time when the war in Ukraine has shown the importance of increasing cooperation with like-minded partners, both in Europe and the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
In June, Marles visited Japan to promote defense cooperation to counterbalance China’s growing military influence in Asia.
Also yesterday, Wong said she would this week travel to PNG and East Timor.
Australia has moved to bolster relations in the region amid growing Chinese influence, including a security pact between China and the Solomon Islands in April.
Wong said she would meet PNG Minister for Foreign Affairs Justin Tkatchenko, recently re-elected PNG Prime Minister James Marape and members of the new Cabinet.
Wong on Wednesday is to travel to East Timor and meet officials including East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta, Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Adaljiza Magno.
She said she planned to discuss issues such as Australian support for East Timor’s economic development and its bids to join ASEAN and the WTO.
“Australia is committed to working together with both Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste in the interests of a stable, resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Wong said.
FRIDAY, SATURDAY: While Typhoon Champi might weaken, officials warned about large waves, while some transport services and tourist spots have been affected Typhoon Champi is forecast to have the greatest effect on Taiwan tomorrow and on Saturday, with a sea warning issued late last night and a land warning expected afternoon today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm’s projected track has shifted slightly westward and it could begin moving away from Taiwan toward Japan’s Kyushu island on Saturday, with the warnings potentially lifted as early as Saturday afternoon, CWA forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳) said. As of yesterday afternoon, Champi was about 910km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, CWA data showed. Its maximum sustained winds had weakened slightly to
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday urged China not to exploit typhoons to assert jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. The CGA issued the remarks after it found that China was shadowing eight Japan Coast Guard ships that sheltered in Taiwan proper’s western waters due to Typhoon Champi. Eight Japan Coast Guard (JCG) vessels sailed southward along the Taiwan Strait median line from 6am on Thursday, reaching waters southwest of Penghu County’s Cimei Island (七美島), outside Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the territorial sea baseline, it said. As the Japanese ships prepared for the typhoon, they were followed by
STAY CAUTIOUS: Rain is expected to begin easing this afternoon, but a CWA forecaster said that if the storm stalls or loops on its approach, heavy winds are likely Typhoon Champi, which caused widespread damage and injuries, and prompted road closures and evacuations across Taiwan yesterday, is expected to continue to bring heavy rain this morning, with up to 900mm of rain forecast for mountainous areas of New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yilan County, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was packing gusts of about 191kph near its center as of 8:30pm, the CWA said. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung; and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin
TOTAL COVERAGE: Champi’s outer band is expected to blanket the entire nation, with the center coming closest tonight or tomorrow before leaving tomorrow evening School and work across most of the nation has been canceled today, as Typhoon Champi is expected to skirt the northeast edge of Taiwan proper. As of 9pm, all municipalities except for Kinmen County had announced cancelations. Taitung County last night announced closures on Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), but did not announce for the rest of the county until 6am today. Stock market settlements scheduled for today would be postponed to the next business day, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said. The announcements came after the Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday expanded its land warning for Champi to 19 regions
RSS