My Take | Playing defence Mini-Me for the US will cost Australia dearly
- The complaint by Canberra about the latest Chinese military flare-up close to China’s coast is not only hypocritical but highly escalatory
An Australian MH-60R Seahawk helicopter was 8,535km from home and flew close to China’s northeastern coasts. So a Chinese warplane shot flares to warn it off.
Suppose a Chinese military aircraft flew 8,535km to loiter off Australia’s northern coastlines, how would you think the Australian military, or for that matter, American military stationed in the vicinity, would respond?
So far, the patriotic hand-wringing of the Australian media and political class has been over the top. It would have been amusing if not for its alarming implications for regional security in Asia.
It’s unclear exactly what the Seahawk was doing in China’s neighbourhood. Various excuses have been offered by its government and the military. It was there to enforce United Nations sanctions against North Korea. It was there to help the Australian navy to exercise freedom of navigation in international waters. So, which is it or both?
Beijing says the helicopter was there for spying, as its model is designed to track and detect submarine activities. Canberra has denied it, but the Chinese are not being paranoid.
Australia’s absurdly expensive and take-forever-to-deliver nuclear-powered subs under the Aukus military alliance are designed not so much to defend the country’s immediate coastlines but to “forward-project” power in the South China Sea.
But forget all that “he says, she says”. What ordinary citizens of both countries and non-military types, such as yours truly, may reasonably be concerned about is why Australia considers it justified to conduct military activities within China’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), defined as an area of waters extending up to 200 nautical miles or 370km from the coast.
