China’s stern presence at the latest meeting of Pacific leaders, and confirmation this week that the US is deepening its military presence in Australia, has highlighted the strategic balancing act this country now increasingly grapples with as regional tensions grow.
During the annual Pacific Islands Forum, hosted this year by Palau, China made its displeasure loudly known for a decision to allow representatives from the democratic island which claims as its own territory.
Pacific envoy, Qian Bo, said China had “serious concerns” about the space being given to the nation which it regards as a rogue province, although he insisted Beijing had the “understanding and support” of most Pacific countries.
“Taiwan is not a dialogue partner with the forum, so we have serious concerns,” Qian Bo told reporters after the opening ceremony of PIF earlier this week.
“We have made our position very clear to the government of Palau and the secretariat.”
Palau, a staunch US ally, is one of just a few nations left that continues to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and has been subjected to diplomatic intimidation from Beijing for years.
Asked on Tuesday whether he believed China was bullying the event’s host nation, Anthony Albanese dodged questions on the matter and refused to criticise Beijing’s actions.
“This is this is a paradise here in Palau, and one of the things that is obvious as you’ve been walking around here is how friendly and how peaceful this place is,” Mr Albanese told reporters on the sidelines of the PIF gathering.
This week’s Pacific Islands Forum again also failed to condemn China for its missile test earlier this year, when a People’s Liberation Army-Navy submarine fired a nuclear-capable weapon towards the tiny nation of Tuvalu.
Instead, the leaders who gathered in Palau chose a middle ground, “registering concern” over the Chinese military’s show of force, which Mr Albanese condemned in July as “provocative and destabilising”.
Mr Albanese flew out of Palau on Thursday, following the leaders-only retreat at the close of the week-long talks, and just hours after Defence Minister Richard Marles had discussed China’s growing military might in a meeting with his US counterpart.
“We are seeing the biggest conventional military build-up by any country in the world since the Second World War in the form of China, without the kind of strategic reassurance that one would expect,” Minister Marles said after his Pentagon talks.
The US Secretary of War was even more blunt as he opened the formal talks inside the Pentagon with his visiting Australian counterpart, raising the prospect of a possible conflict in coming years.
“We share a common picture of the complex threat picture in the world today and the need for allies to both plan together, but also ensure our capabilities match and are complementary if and when something were to have to take place.”
Mr Marles later confirmed US force posture in Australia was discussed at the meeting but stopped short of saying whether there could be more American personnel deployed here, saying more details would be revealed at AUSMIN this year.
In a statement issued after their meeting, the Pentagon revealed both leaders “agreed to accelerate force posture initiatives at Australian bases, bolster cooperation in combined logistics, and build greater interoperability through joint exercises”.
To date there has been very little public debate in Australia about the rapid build up of America’s military in this country, but as strategic tensions between the US and China invariably rise, governments here will face greater demands for transparency over the details.
From next year, that growing US military presence will come sharply into view, as the scheduled AUKUS deployment of nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines begin arriving in Western Australia for their “enduring” rotational deployments.
Beijing is also not hiding its displeasure at the impending arrival of America’s most prized military asset in Australia.
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