Fearing China, Australia rethinks its defence strategy
It wants to deter Chinese threats by projecting power deeper into Asia
THE BERLIN Wall still stood the last time Australia took a hard, independent look at the state of its defence. It was then “one of the most secure countries in the world…distant from the main centres of global military confrontation”, a defence review concluded in 1986. A new review, commissioned by the centre-left government of Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, and released in declassified form on April 24th, starkly concludes that Australia’s “strategic circumstances are now radically different.” The risks of military escalation and major conflict in the Indo-Pacific region are rising. Concerns about China demand a radical makeover of Australia’s defence strategy.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Protection by projection”
Asia April 29th 2023
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From the April 29th 2023 edition
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