Australia, US must boost defence, cybersecurity ties to counter China: report
- The report by the University of Sydney comes ahead of the annual Australia-US Ministerial Consultations forum
- Coming at a difficult time for China-Australia relations, it describes the shifting balance of power from declining US influence and China’s ‘coercive statecraft’
According to the report released Tuesday by the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, the allies should jointly develop health care and digital infrastructure in developing Pacific nations and increase military cooperation amid “immense global disruption and unprecedented domestic pressures” exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
These developments threaten to bring about the establishment of a Chinese sphere of influence
The report, titled “Bolstering resilience in the Indo-Pacific: Policy options for Ausmin after Covid-19”, describes a “strategic environment” that has dramatically worsened amid a shifting balance of power resulting from declining US influence and an increase in China’s use of “coercive statecraft”.
“These developments threaten to bring about the establishment of a Chinese sphere of influence by reducing the access and influence the US, Australia and others have enjoyed,” said the report, the release of which comes ahead of the annual Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (Ausmin) at an undetermined date later this year.
Canberra and Washington, allies under a mutual defence treaty signed in the aftermath of Word War II, should cooperate in Pacific nations “on joint projects which support the immediate pandemic response while advancing broader development outcomes in the region”.
“Bilateral cooperation provides an opportunity for continued American engagement in the region with a comparatively smaller investment of resources, which can leverage Australia’s pre-existing experience and relationships in the Pacific,” it said.
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The report, produced with funding by the Australian Department of Defence and arms manufacturers Northrop Grumman and Thales, also calls on the countries to improve their capabilities to counter state-backed disinformation, which it describes as an “urgent priority in light of China’s aggressive use of disinformation during Covid-19”.