China has accused the US of making “groundless accusations” about developing threats by Beijing, particularly in its aggressive stance toward Taiwan.<\/p>\n
China objected to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s comments that called on allies in the Indo-Pacific region to spend more on defence after warning of China’s “real and potentially imminent” threat.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Mr Hegseth warned at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that China’s army “is rehearsing for the real deal,” to invade Taiwan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pete Hegseth and Richard Marles chat with other summit attendees. (Reuters: Edgar Su)<\/p>\n
Hu Gangfeng, vice president of China’s National Defence University, said the accusations were “nothing more than attempts to provoke trouble, incite division and stir up confrontation to destabilise the Asia-Pacific region.”<\/p>\n
“Some of the claims are completely fabricated, some distort facts, and some are cases of a thief crying ‘stop, thief’,” he said.<\/p>\n
He did not offer specific objections.<\/p>\n
China views Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to “reunify” with the democratic and separately governed island, by force if necessary.<\/p>\n
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.<\/p>\n
China has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games around Taiwan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Defence Minister Richard Marles warned that Australia cannot rely on the US alone to counter the Chinese military build-up.
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\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n
Australia calls out the lack of transparency from China<\/p>\n
When asked about Australia’s defence spending, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed it would increase its investment.<\/p>\n
“We’ll determine our defence policy, and we’ve just invested across the forwards an additional $10 billion on defence,” he told the ABC.<\/p>\n
“What we’ll do is continue to provide for investing in our capability, but also our relationships in the region.”<\/p>\n
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Defence Minister Richard Marles pointed out that while Australia was making its investments public, China was yet to explain the rationale behind its largest conventional military build-up since World War II.<\/p>\n
“It is not just the size of the [China’s] military build-up, it is the fact that it is happening without strategic reassurance and without a clear strategic intent,” he told the ABC, at the Shangri-La Dialogue.<\/p>\n
“We want to see strategic transparency and strategic reassurance be provided by China and an understanding of why it is needed to have such an extraordinary military build-up”.<\/p>\n
Australia and allies step-up spending<\/p>\n
Australia is currently on track to reach defence spending levels of 2.33 per cent of GDP by 2033-34, up from its current level of 2.02 per cent.<\/p>\n
But the Trump administration has pressured Australia’s government to lift its spending to at least 3 per cent of GDP.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the AUKUS partnership was essential to Australia\u2019s security. (AP: Business Wire)<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mr Marles said on Sunday that nuclear-powered submarines being delivered under AUKUS were “on track”.<\/p>\n
AUKUS is a trilateral security agreement between Australia, the US and the UK.<\/p>\n
The deal will see Australia end up with a total of eight new nuclear-powered submarines.<\/p>\n
“We are optimistic about how it is progressing,” he said, adding that Australians working on the submarines were acquiring new skills.<\/p>\n
Mr Hegseth also called on allies in the Indo-Pacific region to up spending, pointing to tensions in the South China Sea where China and the Philippines contest sovereignty over some islands.<\/p>\n
As part of Washington’s longstanding defence ties with the Philippines, the US military this year deployed Typhon launchers that can fire missiles to hit targets in both China and Russia from the Philippines.<\/p>\n
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