Australia cannot only rely on the US to combat China in Asia-Pacific, says Marles

Minister of Defense Richard Marles says that Australia can not only trust the United States to prevent China’s military power in the Indo-Pacific, because his American counterpart is insisting that the regional allies of America should contribute more to their own defense.

Mr. Marles, who spoke at a global security conference in Singapore, warned that China had started the greatest conventional military structure since the Second World War and “did this without offering strategic transparency or reassurance”.

“This remains a determining feature of the strategic complexity with which the Indo-Pacific and the world are confronted today,” he said on Saturday.

His comments followed the guarantees of the US Minister of Defense Pete Hegseeth that the Trump government would not leave allies in the Indo-Pacific to China’s military and economic pressure.

In a keynote speech in the Shangri-la dialog organized by the International Institute for Security Studies, Mr. Hegseeth promised that the US would strengthen its defense abroad in response to Beijing’s actions.

But he also emphasized the need for the American allies and partners to increase their own defense issues and preparations, and said that the US was not interested in going only in the region.

“Ultimately, a strong, resolute and capable network of allies and partners is our most important strategic advantage,” he said.

Later in the morning Mr. Marles told the conference the comments of Mr Hegseeth that emphasize the dedication of the US to the Indo-Pacific, were “very welcome”.

“The reality is that there is no effective power relations in this region without the United States,” he said.

“But we can’t leave this to the US alone.

“Other countries must also contribute to this balance, including Australia.”

He said that Australia raised his own defense expenditure “to contribute to an effective regional balance in which no state concludes that strength is a feasible way to achieve strategic goals”.

Australia is currently on schedule to reach the defense expenditure levels of 2.33 percent of GDP by 2033-34, an increase in the current level of 2.02 percent.

But the Trump government has put pressure on the Australian government to eliminate its expenses to at least 3 percent of GDP, including during a face-to-face meeting between Mr. Hegseeth and Mr Marles on Friday.

Mr. Marles later told the ABC’s afternoon briefing that Australia understood why the US asked allies to spend more on their defense.

“What I made clear is that this is a conversation that we are very willing to have – and it is one that we have, who have already taken very important steps in the past,” he said.

Beijing ‘rehearsing for the real deal’ on Taiwan, says Hegseeth

Hegseeth, a former military officer and Fox News-Gastheer, used his first performance in the Shangri-la dialog to emphasize what the Pentagon sees as the rapidly developing threat of China, in particular the attitude towards Taiwan.

China regards Taiwan as his own territory and has promised to bring the island under the control of Beijing, including the use of violence if necessary.

In some of his strongest remarks about the issue since he took office in January, Mr. Hegseeth said that recent increase in the intensity of Chinese war games around Taiwan showed that Beijing “rehearsed for the real deal”.

“It must be clear to everyone that Beijing is credibly prepared for the possible use of military power to change power relationships in the Indo-Pacific.”

However, he said that every attempt by China to conquer Taiwan “would lead to devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world,” and repeated the statement of US President Donald Trump that China Taiwan will not invade the president’s watch.

The American democratic senator Tammy Duckworth, who leads a two -part delegation at the top in Singapore, said it was remarkable that Mr. Hegseeth had emphasized the dedication of the US to the region, but his language on allies was not helpful.

“I thought it was especially our friends in the Indo-Pacific,” said Senator Duckworth.

Marles calls for a new approach to nuclear arms control

Mr Marles also used Saturday’s address to revitalize the world approach to strategic weapon control, stating the suspension of Russia on participation in the new Start Convention and the decision of China to expand and modernize his nuclear arsenal to stand on the same rate with that of the United States.

The deputy Prime Minister said that future weapon control treaties should go further than just limiting the figures and types of nuclear heads that a country could have.

“New technologies such as Cyber [warfare]The weapons of the space and the ability to integrate nuclear weapons with autonomous systems means that traditional weapon management frameworks are surpassed without any established method of control to supplement them, “he said.

Mr Marles also warned that “another wave of global nuclear proliferation” could be imminent, as countries threatened by the “renewed imperial ambition” of greater powers on their own conditions.

“In an in -depth abolition of his responsibilities as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia has threatened to use nuclear weapons in his war in Eastern Europe,” he said.

“This not only works against states that disarm their own nuclear arsenals, as Ukraine did in a responsible manner in 1994, the war leads to border states that are most exposed to Russian aggression to consider their options.”

The strategic partnership of Russia with North Korea – including the transfer of nuclear weapon technology – and Iran’s nuclear program also acts as destabilizing forces that new proliferation cycles in Europe and Asia can cause, Mr Marles said.

“The weapon control regime that we knew was a fundamental component of an often malignant concept-de international rules-based order,” he said.

“Weapon control should be seen as a necessary but not sufficient feature of a broader strategic order that we have to rebuild, an order that is equally defined by rules and norms as by power.”

ABC/wires