CANBERRA, Australia, Nov 16, (Agencies): President Barack Obama insisted Wednesday that the United States does not fear China, even as he announced a new security agreement with Australia that is widely viewed as a response to Beijing’s growing aggressiveness.
China responded swiftly, warning that an expanded US military footprint in Australia may not be appropriate and deserved greater scrutiny.
The agreement, announced during a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, will expand the US military presence in Australia, positioning more US personnel and equipment there, and increasing American access to bases. About 250 US Marines will begin a rotation in northern Australia starting next year, with a full force of 2,500 military personnel staffing up over the next several years.
Obama called the deployment “significant,” and said it would build capacity and cooperation between the US and Australia. US officials were careful to emphasize that the pact was not an attempt to create a permanent American military presence in Australia.
“It also allows us to meet the demands of a lot of partners in the region that want to feel that they’re getting the training, they’re getting the exercises, and that we have the presence that’s necessary to maintain the security architecture in the region,” Obama said.
The president spoke shortly after arriving in the Australian capital, his second stop on a nine-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region. After a 10-hour flight from Honolulu, where he hosted an economic summit, Obama headed straight into meetings with Gillard.
On Thursday, Obama will address the Australian Parliament, then fly to the northern city of Darwin, where some of the Marines deploying to Australia next year will be based.
During his news conference with Gillard, the president sidestepped questions about whether the security agreement was aimed at containing China. But he said the US would keep sending a clear message that China needs to accept the responsibilities that come with being a world power.
“It’s important for them to play by the rules of the road,” he said.
And he insisted that the US is not fearful of China’s rise.
“I think the notion that we fear China is mistaken. The notion that we’re looking to exclude China is mistaken,” he said.
Prospect
China was immediately leery of the prospect of an expanded US military presence in Australia. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said Wednesday that it was worth discussing whether the plan was in line with the common interests of the international community.
Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes said the agreement was not only appropriate, but also a response to the demand from nations in the region that have signaled they want the US to be present.
The US and smaller Asian nations have grown increasingly concerned about China claiming dominion over vast areas of the Pacific that the US considers international waters, and reigniting old territorial disputes, including confrontations over the South China Sea. China’s defense spending has increased threefold since the 1990s to about $160 billion last year, and its military has recently tested a new stealth jet fighter and launched its first aircraft carrier.
“With my visit to the region, I am making it clear that the United States is stepping up its commitment to the entire Asia-Pacific region,” Obama told a joint news conference with Gillard in Canberra.
“It is appropriate for us to make sure...that the security architecture for the region is updated for the 21st century and this initiative is going to allow us to do that,” Obama said.
Meanwhile, China questioned a plan by the United States to deepen military cooperation with Australia, raising doubts on Wednesday about whether strengthening such alliances helped the region pull together at a time of economic gloom.
Obama said US troop deployments in Australia would help maintain security in Asia. The move, however, could be seen by Beijing as evidence of a Washington strategy to cage in China, with US bases in Japan and Korea and troops in Australia.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not go so far as directly raising such fears. But its spokesman, Liu Weimin, pointedly raised doubts about what the two Western allies are up to.
Asked about the proposed deepening of US-Australian military cooperation, the spokesman Liu said China stood for “peaceful development and cooperation”.
“We also believe that the external policies of countries in the region should develop along these lines,” Liu told a regular news briefing in Beijing.
Liu added that “whether strengthening and expanding a military alliance is in the common interests of the region’s countries and the international community is worthy of discussion”, especially amid a gloomy international economic situation and with each country seeking cooperation.
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CANBERRA: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday denied pressuring Australia to reverse a ban on selling uranium to India but said he would “watch with interest” how the issue played out.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard moved to lift the ban this week in a bid to strengthen relations with the fast-growing economic powerhouse, and there was some speculation it was at the urging of the United States.
But Obama insisted Washington had “not had any influence, I suspect, on Australia’s decision to explore what its relationship in terms of the peaceful use of nuclear energy in India might be” after touching down for a snap visit.
“I suspect that you’ve got some pretty smart government officials who figured out that India’s a big player and that the Australia-India relationship is one that should be cultivated,” the president told reporters in Canberra.
“I don’t think Julia or anybody else needs my advice in figuring that out.”
The Australian newspaper said the Obama administration saw Australia’s refusal to sell India uranium as a “roadblock” to its own relationship with New Delhi and considered Canberra an integral part of its plan to strengthen ties.