BRISBANE, June 30 — Australia will announce a substantial increase in defence spending and focus on projecting military power across the Indo-Pacific amid escalating tensions with China, in a major policy speech to be delivered tomorrow by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The address, seen by AFP,...
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce a substantial increase in defence spending amid escalating tensions with China. — AFP file pic
“We must face the reality that we have moved into a new and less benign strategic era,” Morrison will warn, eyeing the end of unquestioned US hegemony and the rise of an increasingly assertive China. The country will acquire more powerful strike capabilities, including the United States’ AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, as well as invest in hypersonic weapons research.While acknowledging the nation of 25 million people cannot match its rivals in the region — China officially plans to spend US$178 billion on defence in 2020 alone — Morrison framed Australia as a regional power committed to an “open, sovereign Indo-Pacific, free from coercion and hegemony”.
Australia has fought alongside the United States in every major war of the last century, sometimes in areas far from its shores or outside its immediate interests. “We want a region where all countries, large and small, can engage freely with each other, guided by international rules and norms,” he will say.
Beijing has clashed repeatedly with Canberra as it looks to increase the cost for Australia of speaking out against Communist Party interests.
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