cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51251702
Australia, the United States, Japan and the Philippines should establish a formal NATO-style defence alliance to counter China’s growing military power in Asia, according to a former top adviser to Joe Biden.
Ely Ratner, who served as Biden’s assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, also urged the Albanese government to significantly increase military spending to ensure that AUKUS does not cannibalise the defence budget and drain resources for other important investments.
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He said he was concerned by Donald Trump’s lack of focus on competition with China and that he feared the US president could make damaging concessions to Beijing when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping this year.
“The threat is mounting from China. China’s ambitions have not moderated. It is building a military to be able to dominate the Indo-Pacific, and it has ambitions for which only combat-credible deterrence will prevent conflict in the Indo-Pacific,” Ratner said in an interview.
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Just what we need, another US political advisor warning us to spend big money Because China, our biggest trading partner, who simply aren’t interested in starting a war with us.
China has been ramping up its military budgets for three decades, and its aggressive behaviour against practically all its neighbours in the Indo-Pacific is well-knownI would say.