Defence white paper pivots over China threat
- May 04, 2013
The Boeing Super Hornet "Growler" electronic warfare fighter jet. Source: Supplie
LABOR no longer views China as a military threat but has called on Beijing to be more transparent about its growing power, in a defence blueprint that highlights the importance of Indonesia and India as key allies.
LABOR no longer views China as a military threat but has called on Beijing to be more transparent about its growing power, in a defence blueprint that highlights the importance of Indonesia and India as key allies.
The Gillard government's new defence white paper has backed away from the confrontational approach to China that dominated Kevin Rudd's 2009 document, but still maps out major purchases of defence equipment to prepare the Australian Defence Force to fight future wars in the region or further afield.
The immediate centrepiece of the new equipment will be 12 highly sophisticated, Growler electronic attack aircraft, able to paralyse an enemy's missile defences and communications.
The government has drawn a line under any further defence budget cuts and will provide a small increase for defence in next month's budget to cover the estimated $1.5 billion cost of the Growlers - heavily modified versions of the RAAF's 24 Super Hornet fighter bombers.
It has accelerated the process of selecting a design for the 12 promised future submarines to replace the Navy's six Collins-class boats.
The paper released yesterday by Julia Gillard and Defence Minister Stephen Smith stresses the importance of Australia's relations with both China and the US, but says the US will remain Australia's most important ally.
"The government does not approach China as an adversary," it says.
"Rather, its policy is aimed at encouraging China's peaceful rise and ensuring that strategic competition in the region does not lead to conflict."
The 2009 white paper angered Australia's major trading partner with its warning that the pace, scope and structure of China's military modernisation could give its neighbours cause for concern and with the warnings about possible future conflict, which were the focus of widespread briefings that accompanied its release by the Rudd government.
"We welcome China's rise," the Prime Minister said yesterday. "We seek to have a comprehensive and constructive engagement with China.
"We also recognise that China's rise and its subsequent military modernisation is changing the strategic order of our region, and that the US-China relationship is pivotal to our region of the world."
Ms Gillard said that, as China modernised its military, Australia would "continue to call for transparency on that military modernisation".
China responded to the white paper with a warning that it was a political document that was unlikely to bring major changes to Australia's defence strategy or alter the nation's position in the Asia-Pacific region.
Han Feng, a deputy director at the China Academy of Social Science, a think tank linked closely to the Communist Party and government, said the document appeared politically motivated by Labor and tailored by a minority government facing an election. The government cut defence spending to 1.56 per cent of GDP last year - its lowest level since the 1930s - and Mr Smith said yesterday there would be a modest increase in the coming year, apparently to cover the cost of the Growlers.
Labor and the opposition have both committed to returning defence spending to about 2 per cent of GDP as soon as the state of the budget will allow it.
Tony Abbott said the white paper was a "long list of acquisitions without the money to pay for it". "The reality is this government talks a good game on defence, but defence spending as a proportion of GDP is at the lowest level since 1938," the Opposition Leader said.
The white paper stresses the importance of the relationship with Indonesia as key to protecting crucial trade routes through the mass of islands to the north and a first line of defence to block any attacker. "The archipelago to Australia's north shapes our strategic geography," it says.
"Denying an adversary our air and sea approaches in the archipelago is vitally important for deterring and defeating attacks on Australian territory. The archipelago is also vital for Australia's trade with seven of our top 10 trading partners: China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and Singapore.
"As Indonesia comprises much of this archipelago, Australia's strong partnership with Indonesia remains our most important regional strategic relationship and the partnership continues to deepen and broaden in support of our significant shared interests."
The white paper sets out a plan to ensure skills survive in the shipbuilding industry when projects end and before work begins on 12 replacement submarines.
The options for new submarines have been cut from four to two with the most likely being a bigger and more potent version of the current boats with the working title of "Evolved Collins".
The second option will be any design that emerges in the months to come that would be a major advance on what is now available.
The government has heeded the navy's concerns and ruled out buying, off the shelf, smaller and cheaper European subs because they'd have have too little range to operate far from Australia.
Announcements made with the paper included an extra $25.3 million for mental health services for the growing number of veterans from East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Paul Dibb, author of the 1987 white paper and now an emeritus professor at the Australian National University, said the diplomatic view of China in the new document was a big improvement on the hostile approach in the 2009 version. It made it clear Australia did not see China as an adversary, avoided insulting Beijing and recognised the importance of Indonesia and India.
The paper says the government's aim is to encourage China's peaceful rise and to ensure that strategic competition in the region does not lead to conflict.
That is a significant change from the 2009 paper, which warned "the pace, scope and structure of China's military modernisation have the potential to give its neighbours cause for concern".
Peter Jennings, a former senior defence official who heads the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the paper articulated an intent to pivot the ADF back to closer engagement in Australia's home region, to deepen relations with Indonesia and reinvest in defence co-operation with Papua New Guinea.
Australia Defence Association spokesman Neil James said white papers were a flawed way to work out defence strategy.
Additional reporting: Scott Murdoch
No comments:
Post a Comment